The photo above represents a current colorway from Alo. The pastel blue and grey that we tested is no longer available.
December 2018The Alo Goddess Ribbed Leggings are made of an 87% Nylon 13% Spandex blend for the top and a 90% Nylon 10% spandex blend for the bottom. They come in XXS-L sizes and too many colors to list here.
These pants were not the most breathable pair that we tested. The upper fabric offers a lot of compression and uplift, but to do so, it has to be a little thicker. While a thicker material doesn't always equal less breathability, we did see a strong relationship between the two in our testing. If you don't tend to sweat too much in class or only practice gentle yoga, then this wouldn't be too much of an issue for you, but if you head into yoga to sweat sweat sweat, then you'll probably find that these are too heavy.
The upper material of these pants felt a little stiff when compared to the soft Beyond Yoga Spacedye legging. The wide waistband has double the material on it, which means that when we went to bend forward we could feel it bunching up on us a bit. The ribbed material on the legs felt much stretchier than the upper fabric, and we occasionally found ourselves wishing that the whole pant was made out of that ribbed fabric.
These pants were very comfortable, and we felt like we could wear them all day. The upper fabric provided nice control and support without choking us, and the coverage provided by the lower legs was great. The over the heel fit is not for everyone though, and while we liked it, if you don't and pull the bottoms up so that they hit at the ankle, having extra fabric bunching up at the bottom of your legs is not the best feeling.
We had to knock a few points off the durability score because the upper fabric did start to change slightly after less than ten washes. While it was only minimal pilling, it suggests to us that these won't have the best long-term durability.
We turned a lot of heads in these leggings, in a good way! If someone hadn't seen this brand before they were very curious to know if these were legwarmers over a regular pair of pants, and with so many colors to choose from you're sure to find one to suit your style.
While we did like wearing these in a Vinyasa style class, and don't mind the over the heel style even when practicing, they don't have the best breathability for someone with a vigorous practice or who sweats a lot. We could see these being better to teach yoga in or for those with a Barre/Ballet practice.
These leggings do cost a fair bit of money — $94 for the pair we tested and up to $98 for some of the print variations. While paying almost $100 seems to be the new normal in the yoga pant world, it still makes us cringe a little, particularly when there are some great pants that retail for less than half the price, like the 90 Degree by Reflex Powerflex ($30).
