I Own Dozens of Leggings, But This $30 Amazon Pair Is My Favorite

As a fashion editor, my life quite literally revolves around clothes. I think about them, try them, and test them all day, every day—and much to my dismay, have never shied away from spending money on them. However, the one category of my wardrobe I’m thrifty about is workout wear. Despite working out daily, spending $100+ on clothes that I don’t fantasizing about styling just never appealed to me. (I’d always choose to buy a new top or a pair of jeans over a pair of leggings.) However, due to the nature of my job, I’ve acquired a lot of expensive workout wear over the years. I love and wear all of it, but recently realized something: Despite my extensive activewear collection, when I fold my laundry, I always put my $30 Amazon pair at the top of my leggings pile.

Given the quantity of clothes I own, the top-of-the-pile test is one I take very seriously. As I put laundry away every week, I always subconsciously put the pieces I wear the most at the top of their respective piles in my closet. The pieces I reach for the least will slowly make their way to the bottom of their pile, which means they’re not getting worn—and inevitably, will get donated. The top-of-the-pile pieces stay there because they’re getting washed frequently, which also means they’re getting worn frequently. They’re the top of the pyramid; the ones every piece in my closet aspires to be.

I have about a dozen pairs of leggings that I rotate between consistently, but when every pair of them is clean (read: I have my choice of all of them—including ones that cost well over $100), this Amazon pair is the first I reach for. I have them in three colors, and every week, all three pairs find themselves back in the laundry after being put through a good workout.

Second, they’re flattering, but also easy to get on. I find that if a pair of leggings is too compressive, the trouble of squeezing into them makes me feel like they’re more trouble than they’re worth. They’re compressive enough to look flattering without being so compressive that you feel like you’re wearing Spanx. They also have pockets, which is a necessity to me if I’m going for a run and need somewhere to keep my keys. They also come in 20+ colors, so it makes it easy to find a pair you love (I personally own the green, purple, and black).

I’ve owned all three of my pairs for over two years, and have put them through the wash every week since then—but despite 100+ cycles in my building’s less-than-stellar washer and dryer, they show literally no signs of wear. My toxic trait is that I’m not super careful with my clothes when I wash them, and rather than air drying delicate pieces like workout wear, throw everything into the dryer without thinking twice. Despite that, there’s no pilling, no loss in elasticity, and no loss of quality in any of my three pairs. I’ve put each of them through the absolute wringer, and despite that, they look and feel like new after over two years of wear.

If these leggings were $100, even I would consider shelling out the cash for them—but luckily, they run for $32. The perfect pair of leggings for a price that’s a fraction of other options? That’s a win for us all.