Update 1/3/17: I have found my favourite yoga undies for non VPL and non colour showing through! Scroll down to find out.
Today’s topic is something that hardly anyone mentions but is something everyone is (or should be) concerned about.
What kind of underwear should you wear under your beautiful yoga pants?
Firstly, if you think any random one would do, you are WRONG! If you spent $150 on a beautiful pair of Lululemon bottoms, the last thing you would want is for your underwear to destroy it.
I shall not provide visual pictures but here’s how it can go wrong:
VPL
Literally it means visible panty line, but to be specific, those underwear without free edges would cause an imprint on your butt cheeks and you can see indented lines, in the middle of your butt. Most yoga pants (especially Lululemon) are designed to be flattering for the rear area. A fun fact – when Lululemon FIRST started off in Canada, it got it’s stamp of approval from yoga instructors precisely because of how it was flattering for the butt! I read about this information when looking up the history of Luluelmon.The other kind of VPL which is a lot less serious is the kind which doesn’t form indents, but you can make out the shape of the edges because your pants are tight. This is more forgiving, but if you can avoid it, please do.
Colour showing through
While most of my Lululemon pants are thick enough, lighter colours may be sheer. As for my other pants from Teeki and Pure Apparel, it is definitely sheer. You do not want people to know whether you’re wearing Bikini or Hip Hugger undies whole doing downward dog in class, or see the hidden message on your slogan underwear. Your pants may look non-sheer but when your butt stretches out the material in a downward dog it’s a different story. The solution is to get underwear that is as close to your skin tone as possible!
Sweat patches
Good quality yoga pants are made of quick drying, sweat wicking technical fabric. The sweat comes through and gets evaporated fast. We do not wear cotton material for yoga pants because we know how absorbent cotton is and it won’t dry. With this valuable information on fabric, we should not be double standard and assume it’s ok to wear cotton underwear. You know what will happen? The 100% cotton underwear would soak up all your sweat and retain it. It will show through your yoga pants as a giant triangular shaped sweat patch! For lighter coloured pants, it is ultra obvious because wet patches appear a shade darker. And I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you how uncomfortable it is to be wearing soaked underwear.
To avoid such problems, we simply need underwear with:
- Free edges
- Skin colour (if your pants are slightly sheer)
- Quick drying material, non-cotton
Here’s where to find underwear suitable for yoga:
1. Lululemon – USD$18
They resolved their problem of sheer and tight pants by making underwear suitable for yoga. However, it is on the pricey side for something so small at $18 and they never go on sale. The nude colour Nudie, also seems too light for most people to be considered non show through.Lululemon’s non-VPL underwear comes in Namastay Put Hipster and Namastay Put Thong.
2. Uniqlo – S$9.90
Material: 76% Nylon, 24% Spandex
This is probably the best place to get seamless underwear for a reasonable price of $9.90. The material is good for sweat wicking and they come in a variety of colours. Their skin colour 31 Beige however, is too light and will still show through slightly with sheer pants. Another thing I do not like is the lack of sizes – it comes in M and L only. Anyone smaller than a Lululemon 4 will find M loose (me included).Seamless underwear from Uniqlo comes in Bikini, Hip Hugger and Thong
3. La Senza – S$19.00
Material: Polyamide, Elastane
Underwear here is typically not cheap but La Senza always launches promotions all year round. The best time to get it is during your birthday month, if you’re a member, and you get 50% off everything, even for stuff which don’t usually go on sale, like the basic seamless underwear. The retail price of $19 may not be the best price but for $9.50 is it decent. Material is polyamide and elastane, and their nude colour (Rose Tan) is darker than Uniqlo’s and Lululemon’s making it more invisible. I got a cheeky in black and I’m not quite a fan of it because there’s a seam running down the back making it not the most comfortable thing and there’s also a seam from the lining being sewn on.No Show from La Senza comes in Brazillian (cheeky), Hiphugger and Thong.
4. Victoria’s Secret – US$27 for 5 *Recommended – best nude tone underwear*
Material: Polyamide, Spandex
Their Sexy Smooth Raw Cut underwear comes in a variety of colours including Black and Nude. I purchased them both online and I loved it so much, I bought another 5 pieces of Nude when I was in the US. This is the perfect underwear for the function of no VPL and no colour showing through! The edges are laser cut and the nude tone is darker than Uniqlo and Cotton On, making it very similar to Asian fair skin tones (of course this is subjective to your skin colour, but this is way more like skin colour than the other brands to me). The material is distinctly different from the others – it is very stretchy, like elastic stretchy. However, the lining is sewn on so you can see some seam from the crotch if you look carefully. XS will fit Lululemon 2- 4 (because it is ultra stretchy).Sexy Smooth Raw Cut from Victoria’s Secret comes in Cheeky, Hiphugger, Thongs and High-waist Briefs.
5. Cotton On Body – S$20.00 for 3 *Recommended – best no VPL underwear*
Material: 87% Polyamide, 13% Elastane
Their Seamless Essential series is perfect for non VPL undies! The material is similar to La Senza’s and Uniqlo and it has the same raw free edge which makes VPL invisible, but the cutting I feel is much better. The material is silkier and does not roll up as much as La Senza’s. It comes in more variety of sizes compared to Uniqlo’s so it definitely fits better. A size XS fits Lululemon 4 perfectly. It only comes in 2 colours – Black and Shell but the Shell is too light for fair Asian skin tones making it not functional for the purpose of colour not showing through. I also like that the lining is not sewn own, but stuck on, so there’s no seam other than at the sides. This would be the perfect yoga undies if sheer pants is not your concern. And have you noticed how cheap it is at $6+/ piece? I personally prefer the Bikini cut over Boyleg for this one.Seamless Essential from Cotton On Body comes in Bikini or Boyleg (Hiphugger).
Best Yoga Underwear?
Between Hip Hugger and Bikini cut, the former would be more ‘invisible’ because the edges would not be sitting on your butt cheek (which is the tightest part of your pants), but generally both are fine.
For those with super tight and sheer yoga pants, I suggest using a skin coloured thong.
Overall, considering function, comfort and price, Victoria’s Secret Hiphugger Raw Cut in Nude is the best all purpose underwear for all types of yoga pants – for ultra sheer pants get the thongs version but everything else you could use cheeky or hiphugger. If your yoga pants are not sheer at all, you could get the Cotton On Body Seamless Essential Bikini for a low cost but functional no VPL underwear.
Namaste 