Yoga Jeans - Our Little Secret

There is a reticent whisper making its way around the city, circulating from woman to woman. We share it with one another in hushed tones, like a secret that we don’t want anyone to hear but we cannot keep to ourselves: yoga jeans.

Yoga jeans are an impossible hybrid of the comfort of leggings, the power of shapewear and the aesthetic of jeans. Manufactured entirely in Quebec, they are designed by Montreal-based Second denim company. These homegrown jeans are almost as delicious as poutine, and let you eat yours too. Yoga jeans come in forty-two different styles, including boot-cut, skinny, high-rise, low rise and any combination of these. Instead of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ jean, yoga jeans are actually prepared to accommodate the needs and desires of women compared to other denim companies that create two leg tubes in the shape of a trend and expect all women to a) want to wear them and b) actually fit into them.

Yoga jeans are a positive advancement in women’s denim, evidenced by the age demographic interested in buying a pair. Once I was finally convinced to try them on for myself, every other woman in the Shopgirls change area was trying on a pair of yoga jeans too. Our approximate respective ages were: 22, 34, 61 – all women looking for a pair of comfortable pants that looked good and fit well, no bullshit. Is that too much to ask?

Apparently so. One could say I was driven to yoga jeans, after searching for a simple pair of high-waisted black jeans at Urban Outfitters. Turns out, I could not even fit into the size above my usual, and I stormed out of the change room, vowing to never shop at Pre-Teen Outfitters ever again. I went straight to buy yoga jeans, when the salesgirl calmly approached me and told me I would need at least two sizes down from my regular size.

If yoga jeans are so great, then why do we need to keep them a secret? I suspect that women speak about yoga jeans in such hushed tones because we are embarrassed that we cannot just wear a pair of regular jeans. Instead our jeans need to come with an inordinate amount of stretch, closer in nature to Lululemon pants than the unforgiving chafe of raw denim. We are scared that we might be wearing “jeggings” without even realizing, and somebody might find out.

Or perhaps, we speak quietly of yoga jeans because they might actually contain a bit of magic, and we don’t want people to think we are crazy because everyone knows that magic isn’t real. But how else do we explain the wide-eyed wonder that comes with being at least two or three sizes smaller than your regular size? I refuse to believe in such a thing as vanity sizing. No, yoga jeans are definitely magical.

Women do not need to buy into the concept of flattery, because it tells us that we should dress to hide our flaws rather than wear what we actually want. But none of us can deny how great it feels to find a pair of jeans that look amazing and fit well. It’s like the Holy Grail of the fashion world (finding a swimsuit that looks good is like the Shroud of Turin — is it even real?). All I know, is that when I button up my yoga jeans, it unlocks a feeling of love in my heart usually reserved for the softest of kittens. All the troubles of the world melt away, and all that is left is my ass, looking wicked in these jeans.

Isabel Slone is a Toronto-based fashion blogger and writer. Follow her on Twitter at @isabelslone.