10 Finest Black Leggings, From Health Editors Who’ve Tried Tons of | 2025 Picks

Within the yr of our Lord 2025, no wardrobe is full with out a pair of black leggings. Comfortable, 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 the case of choices for black leggings, the restrict doesn’t exist. So the SELF staff started working testing tights from fan-favorite manufacturers like Athleta, Lululemon, Outdated Navy, and extra to see that are the perfect in your wants, be that for working or working errands, namaste-ing or staying in.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Finest Price range Decide: Outdated Navy Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Leggings
Finest for Lounging: Vuori AllTheFeels Legging
Finest for Most Exercises: Lululemon Wunder Practice Excessive-Rise Tight
Finest for Compression: Spanx Form Booty Enhance 7/8 Leggings
Finest for Lifting: Below Armour Meridian Leggings
Finest for Yoga: Adidas Girls’s All Me 7/8 Leggings
Finest for Carrying All Day: Nike Girls’s Light Assist 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 essential to you if the plan is to put on them whereas catching up on Severance. Listed here are some standards to remember as you weigh your choices.

How we selected the leggings on this listing

SELF editors sifted by on-line evaluations to search out beloved leggings internationally vast internet, then put among the high picks by 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 diverse by individual, however was at the very least one month lengthy) and washed them in keeping with the care directions. We additionally thought of previous winners from SELF’s Activewear Awards.

Store the very best black leggings

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

Finest General: Athleta Salutation Stash Excessive-Rise Legging

Execs

• Tremendous-soft cloth
• 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 possibility on this listing

There’s cause why Athleta’s Salutation Stash leggings took high honors in our 2024 Activewear Awards: They’re delicate, supple, and final perpetually. “These are my every little thing leggings! I’ve been shopping for the Stash from Athleta for years, and so they maintain up, one awards tester stated. “I educate barre, carry weights, hike trails, and browse the aisles of Dealer Joe’s in them consistently.”

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 classes—imagine me, I sweat a ton.

Runner Up: Aritzia PowerSculpt New Cheeky Hello-Rise Legging

Execs

• Sculpting waistband with a drawstring
• Obtainable 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 cloth are clean, modern, and keep put by each squat, lunge, and ahead fold. When you love the model’s booty-lifting look however choose a much less compressive match, the identical design is accessible in 5 completely different materials that, in keeping with Aritzia, are higher for decrease and medium-impact actions.

Finest Price range Decide: Outdated Navy Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Leggings

Execs

• Below $40—and infrequently on sale for much less
• Aspect pockets
• Sweat-wicking cloth

Cons

• Reviewers report they run small

Professional tip: You don’t have to spend a bundle to get Outdated Navy’s Excessive-Waisted PowerSoft Leggings have been the number-one decide 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 usually). “They’re comfy AF, slimming, and so they truly 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 facet 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 cloth has nice stretch
• Comfortable, 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 actually a pleasure to put on.” Coughlin wore the Vuori leggings for an entire 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.

Nevertheless, she doesn’t advocate 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 of heat after I began lifting weights and transferring 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 comfy—however now I do know they’re strictly lounging leggings.”

Finest for Exercises: Lululemon Wunder Practice Excessive-Rise Tight

Execs

• Vast, comfy waistband with pocket
• Obtainable in 4 lengths
• Fast-drying cloth

Cons

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

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

With numeric sizes fromup 0 by 20 and 4 obtainable lengths, you’ll be able to combine and match specs to search out your good match; then cinch the waistband’s drawstring in case you want much more customization. Throughout my testing—which included a number of sweating Peloton biking courses and strength-training classes—I discovered the Wunder Trains to be extra light-weight and a bit of looser than the Athleta Salutations. (When you like a delicate maintain, go in your common dimension; I’d advocate sizing up in case you choose a much less compression and down for a tighter match.)

Finest for Compression: SPANXshape Booty Enhance 7/8 Leggings

Execs

• Contoured waistband and no heart entrance seam
• Squat-proof cloth stays opaque whilst you transfer

Cons

• Could also be too tight for some
• Not obtainable 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 finest with the SPANXshape Booty Enhance Leggings: The pair’s modern, slippery cloth presents a lot help, I really feel like a Bond woman (or a seal…however like, in a great way?) after I put on them.

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

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

Execs

• Obtainable briefly lengths and in plus sizes
• Two facet pockets

Cons

• Reviewers report instances of VPL (seen panty strains)