If You Wear Yoga Pants Regularly You'll Understand

Let's all just take a moment to express our gratitude for the meteoric rise in athleisure fashion, shall we? After all, B.A. (Before Athleisure) was a dark time during which our most forgiving, stretchy, spandex-laden apparel pieces were only meant to be worn inside the gym. Can you believe how tragically closed-minded we were a few short years ago? Many a Saturday mornings were burdened with actually getting dressed to go to the grocery store and girlfriends around the world had to put on jeans solely so they could meet up for an afternoon coffee. Yes, the effort was strenuous, but lucky for us, after years of flying under the radar as athletic wear, the yoga pant trend has become mainstream faster than Justin Bieber's haircut, making all of our casual dressing dreams come true.

I don't recall when exactly it started or who is to thank for sparking the fire, but these days, the world's number one pant is of the yoga variety. Traditional black, bright bold patterns, full length and cropped, spandex has infiltrated the streets and become an actual style all its own. Women are embracing athleticwear as their new go-to, replacing their jeans and ballet flats with yoga tights and sneakers for just about any weekend activity. Not even fashion's finest could deny the power of the workout pant, ultimately jumping on the bandwagon and dubbing the new casual, sport chic look, athleisure — nothing signifies the acceptable nature of a trend more than it being officially categorized by the industry powers that be. All-in-all, the yoga pant has been liberated from the gym, my friends, and is now considered socially acceptable attire for almost any casual event on the calendar (insert rejoicing emoji hands here).

Personally, I have five good pairs of yoga pants on rotation, my loyal partners in crime, not only at the gym, but also at the grocery store, in the airport and during pretty much any activity that takes place on a Saturday or Sunday. If you are anything like me — wearing your yoga in any situation that seems even mildly socially acceptable — these are the top five things you are probably tired of hearing. Because, believe it or not, there are still people who don't fully understand or embrace the best trend gift we have ever been given.

1. "Are you heading to yoga?"

If yoga is taking place in aisle six next to the pita chips or in about and hour from the comforts of my pedicure chair, then yes, I am headed to yoga. Personally, there is about a 1 in 10 chance that I am actually headed to yoga when you see me wearing my yoga pants, not because my trusty spandex don't see quality gym time, but because I wear them on repeat in a multitude of public situations. I could be grocery shopping or getting a Starbucks or on my way to grab a quick lunch or even shopping for more yoga pants — their versatility is unmatched. That's athleisure, baby.

2. "You look super comfortable!"

We have all had the pleasure of someone looking at us and saying, "Awww you look so tired.” You know what, I am tired, thank you for noticing! Your backhanded sympathy compliment is totally refreshing. Well, when people proclaim how comfortable someone looks in their yoga pants, samesies. You are basically saying that said spandex-wearing person didn’t get dressed up enough to be uncomfortable and I fully beg to differ. Our attire is appropriately casual and sport chic. Also, we are more comfortable than you, so be jealous.

3. "Love your yoga pants! Are those from LuLu?"

The entire world’s supply of yoga pants does not come from Lululemon and every woman you meet is not sporting $100 spandex. In fact, the ones I have on right now are from Target, homegirl. Perhaps you are trying to insinuate that you are yoga pant savvy by brand name dropping, but there are so many yoga pants to love, my friend. Victoria’s Secret, Fabletica, Nike, Target — the list is long. Thanks to athleisure, the world is our yoga pant oyster.

4. "Cute leggings!"

Excuse me while my head explodes. These are yoga pants, lady, not leggings. In no way are they remotely see through and their high spandex content is holding everything together in a manner that no legging of mine ever could. I can even wear a shirt that doesn't fully cover the rear view if I so choose, because that is the luxury of fancy workout wear.

5. "Leggings are not pants!"

Again, let me repeat, these are not leggings; these are yoga pants. But while we are on the topic, leggings can totally be pants and so can my yoga tights. I know somewhere Blair Waldorf is in the middle of an epic eye roll, but this is the one time I have to disagree with Queen B. The world needs to lay off their hate of stretchy bottoms and stop being so closed-minded about who we let in to the pants party. I am totally wearing my yoga tights as pants and I don’t want to hear anymore nonsense about how they don’t qualify as such.

Stand strong ladies. Embrace athleisure and get your yoga on — whether you are actually at the gym or not.

Images: Getty; Giphy