For the past few years, one of my best friends M has been nurturing an obsession for these gorgeous, Australian made leggings. They're skin tight (she has fabulous legs) and fairly expensive so I never really considered wearing them myself. E never really got the allure of nylon when I tried to describe it either so I would admire hers when a new pair came in but otherwise didn't pay them much thought.
Besides, I thought, who has $80 to spend in leggings while we're trying to save for a house and baby and then later, save and pay for IVF? And my legs are Not fabulous, I carry a ton of weight in my thighs and I've packed on serious pounds since my hormones went crazy. I even had to go up a pants size which is embarrassing in all sorts of ways. Leggings are definitely Not for me.
Oh how wrong I was.
M started with gentle prodding while I was looking for good distractions from counting the seconds until my PGD results came in. Then she added a little persuasion and shared about a thousand photos of curvier girls rocking their leggings to prove that they look fabulous on everyone. Finally, she sealed the deal by answering roughly a million questions about how they fit/wear/wash, assuaging my concerns about thigh rub and my insistence that I wouldn't fit into their XL because I was just too fat. By the time Black Friday rolled around and several stores were offering sales, I was ready to pull the trigger.
I ended up ordering my leggings from two different stores. The first set came from Black Milk, the original Aussie legging company that started the craze. I got the celestial Blue Galaxy leggings and the Harry Potter Daily Prophet leggings because I adore Harry Potter and the newsprint was just too awesome. Then, because I was still having visions of muffin top from the elastic bands and I love the original mermaid prints, I ordered the Glacier Mermaids and Evil Mermaids from Gold Stitches, a US based seller who hand makes her leggings to your measurements with several different waistband options. I got the yoga bands which have no elastic in them but she also offers the traditional elastic band and a compression yoga band that I'm thinking of trying out. The Gold Stitches yoga band is pretty much the most comfortable waist band ever, it's like wearing comfy pajamas that make your ass look fabulous.
The second the fabric hits your hands, you'll know these leggings are different. They are silky and supple and feel much higher quality than the leggings I see in department stores. They take a little wiggling to get on but once you're wearing them, they seem to compress you in all sorts of flattering ways and you'll notice that the designs don't stretch over your bigger body parts the way they do in cheap fabric. Despite my fears that the elastic bands in my Black Milks would lead to terrible muffin top, I haven't had an issue and I've already worn both pairs. My Blue Galaxies are standard waist while the Daily Prophets are high waisted and both fit beautifully, telling me they're correctly sized. Sizing is especially important with these leggings - too big and they'll be baggy and saggy, too small and you'll get rolls, muffin top and the fabric will start to look sheer. Unfortunately for the curvier ladies, Black Milk only goes up to an XL but if you look at the measurements you'll see it's a true XL that allows for a 37" waist and 49" hips. If you don't fit the measurements or have a specific size concern *cough*bigthighs*cough*, Katlin at Gold Stitches can make you a fabulous pair to any measurements.
In addition to Black Milk and Gold Stitches, there are a bunch of other legging shops that have cropped up in Australia and the US. I'm itching for a pair of Muz Mans from Living Dead and Poprageous has tons of great sales. Gold Stitches is currently having a Surprise Legging sale where you get a deep discount on the leggings and Katlin gets to pick the fabric, though you can put in some likes and dislikes. The leggings were so discounted I had to order two more pairs and I can't wait to see what they look like. Plus, I asked Katlin to make the waist bands a little on the forgiving side to accommodate a belly that I'm hoping will be full of baby soon! Now that I know how comfy they are, I'm planning on wearing leggings nearly every day for the rest of forever and I would hate to miss out while pregnant :)
P.S. If you want to get your own fabulous pair of Gold Stitches, you can use
this link to get 10% off your first order!
