10 Finest Black Leggings, From Health Editors Who’ve Tried A whole lot | 2025 Picks

Within the 12 months of our Lord 2025, no wardrobe is full with no pair of black leggings. Delicate, stretchy tights have grow to be as important as blue denims and white t-shirts—put on ‘em on cozy nights in, put on ‘em whereas exercising, throw on an outsized blazer or sweater and put on ‘em to the workplace (in case your gown code permits… use your judgement, we’re not your boss).

However in terms of choices for black leggings, the restrict doesn’t exist. So the SELF workforce set to work testing tights from fan-favorite manufacturers like Athleta, Lululemon, Previous Navy, and extra to see that are the easiest on your wants, be that for working or working errands, namaste-ing or staying in.

Our high picks

Finest General: Athleta Salutation Stash Excessive-Rise Legging
Runner Up: Aritzia PowerSculpt New Cheeky Hello-Rise Legging
Finest Finances Choose: Previous Navy Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Leggings
Finest for Lounging: Vuori AllTheFeels Legging
Finest for Most Exercises: Lululemon Wunder Prepare Excessive-Rise Tight
Finest for Compression: Spanx Form Booty Enhance 7/8 Leggings
Finest for Lifting: Beneath Armour Meridian Leggings
Finest for Yoga: Adidas Girls’s All Me 7/8 Leggings
Finest for Carrying All Day: Nike Girls’s Light Help Excessive-Waisted Full-Size Leggings
Finest Maternity Leggings: Hole Maternity On a regular basis Full Panel Leggings

What to search for when selecting black leggings

First issues first: What are you shopping for these leggings for? A pair meant for bodily exercise will want particular options—like moisture-wicking supplies or compression—which may not be as necessary to you if the plan is to put on them whereas catching up on Severance. Listed below are some standards to remember as you weigh your choices.

How we selected the leggings on this listing

SELF editors sifted via on-line critiques to search out beloved leggings internationally extensive internet, then put among the high picks via their paces. Testers wore their leggings for a number of actions—together with working, yoga, biking, and faculty pickup—over the course of the testing interval (testing time different by particular person, however was at the least one month lengthy) and washed them based on the care directions. We additionally thought of previous winners from SELF’s Activewear Awards.

Store the perfect black leggings

In a sea of black leggings, these are prime catches.

Finest General: Athleta Salutation Stash Excessive-Rise Legging

Execs

• Tremendous-soft material
• Sturdy; holds as much as years of exercises and washings
• Roomy leg pocket doesn’t add bulk to the silhouette

Cons

• Not probably the most compressive choice on this listing

There’s a great motive why Athleta’s Salutation Stash leggings took high honors in our 2024 Activewear Awards: They’re smooth, supple, and final without end. “These are my every thing leggings! I’ve been shopping for the Stash from Athleta for years, and so they maintain up, one awards tester stated. “I train barre, elevate weights, hike trails, and browse the aisles of Dealer Joe’s in them continuously.”

I really like how the waistband helps my core with out rearranging my organs, and the material mix, (which incorporates sweat-wicking nylon, Lycra, and polyester), can stand as much as sweaty exercise periods—imagine me, I sweat a ton.

Runner Up: Aritzia PowerSculpt New Cheeky Hello-Rise Legging

Execs

• Sculpting waistband with a drawstring
• Out there in numeric sizing for a extra exact match

Cons

• No pockets
• Not very size-inclusive

Don’t sleep on Aritzia’s activewear. The Cheeky Hello-Rise Leggings within the model’s PowerSculpt material are easy, smooth, and keep put via each squat, lunge, and ahead fold. For those who love the model’s booty-lifting look however want a much less compressive match, the identical design is on the market in 5 totally different materials that, based on Aritzia, are higher for decrease and medium-impact actions.

Finest Finances Choose: Previous Navy Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Leggings

Execs

• Beneath $40—and sometimes on sale for much less
• Aspect pockets
• Sweat-wicking material

Cons

• Reviewers report they run small

Professional tip: You don’t have to spend a bundle to get Previous Navy’s Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Leggings had been the number-one choose by SELF readers in our 2024 Activewear Award—s, and so they’ll run you simply $40 (even much less once they’re on sale, which is commonly). “They’re snug AF, slimming, and so they really keep up throughout runs! I actually have 25 pairs, and so they’re the one bottoms I’ll do races in,” one tester stated. “The aspect pockets are so nice, I don’t even have to put on working belts throughout my coaching runs to maintain my cellphone, gum, and keys useful.”

Finest for Lounging: Vuori AllTheFeels Legging

Execs

• Light-weight material has nice stretch
• Delicate, brushed feeling

Cons

• Knit materials can maintain in warmth and sweat

“After years of carrying and writing about leggings, I lastly know what manufacturers are speaking about once they say their tights have a ‘second pores and skin’ really feel, thanks to those leggings,” SELF’s senior commerce author Sara Coughlin says. “They’re lighter than air, endlessly stretchy, and really a pleasure to put on.” Coughlin wore the Vuori leggings for a complete day: she lounged on the sofa, she went for a stroll, she performed with the canine—”“and I by no means as soon as felt distracted by my leggings,” she says.

Nonetheless, she doesn’t suggest this pair for exercises as a result of their thicker, knit materials traps in warmth and moisture. “The leggings felt nice whereas I used to be stretching, however began to really feel a bit heat once I began lifting weights and shifting round,” Coughlin says about carrying the AllTheFeels to the health club. “I am nonetheless glad to have them in my closet—they are surely uniquely and blissfully snug—however now I do know they’re strictly lounging leggings.”

Finest for Exercises: Lululemon Wunder Prepare Excessive-Rise Tight

Execs

• Vast, snug waistband with pocket
• Out there in 4 lengths
• Fast-drying material

Cons

• Reviewers say the material feels skinny (however not flimsy)
• No aspect pockets

Lululemon’s Wunder Prepare Tight is designed for the health club or health studio (however nonetheless appears sharp out to brunch or bopping round city). This pair is constructed from the model’s “Everlux” material, which is a mix of sweat-wicking Nylon and Lycra. It options four-way stretch (so the leggings are simply as versatile as you’re) and has medium compression, so it’s extra supportive than the model’s fashionable Align and Wunder Beneath kinds however is simply as smooth to the contact.

With numeric sizes fromup 0 via 20 and 4 out there lengths, you possibly can combine and match specs to search out your excellent match; then cinch the waistband’s drawstring in the event you want much more customization. Throughout my testing—which included a number of sweating Peloton biking lessons and strength-training periods—I discovered the Wunder Trains to be extra light-weight and a bit looser than the Athleta Salutations. (For those who like a mild maintain, go on your common measurement; I’d suggest sizing up in the event you want a much less compression and down for a tighter match.)

Finest for Compression: SPANXshape Booty Enhance 7/8 Leggings

Execs

• Contoured waistband and no middle entrance seam
• Squat-proof material stays opaque whilst you transfer

Cons

• Could also be too tight for some
• Not out there in full-length

In case your high precedence with leggings is trying snatched, we’ve discovered your match. Shapewear model Spanx is doing what it does greatest with the SPANXshape Booty Enhance Leggings: The pair’s smooth, slippery material affords a lot help, I really feel like a Bond woman (or a seal…however like, in a great way?) once I put on them.

This model has additionally taken dwelling SELF Activewear Awards a number of years working, proving it has extra to supply than attractiveness by holding as much as hard-core CrossFit circuits and dance cardio lessons. “These are perfection,” stated one tester, who wears a measurement 2X. “They didn’t transfer. The leggings are high-waisted and canopy my complete tummy as a plus-size lady. The place have these leggings been all my life?”

Finest for Weightlifting: Beneath Armour Girls’s UA Meridian Leggings

Execs

• Out there in brief lengths and in plus sizes
• Two aspect pockets

Cons

• Reviewers report instances of VPL (seen panty strains)