Short version of review:

Yoga Jeans are wonderful but they aren’t REALLY for yoga.

Long version of review:

You all remember my post in which I wrote about jean-inspired activity-wear and lounge-wear? If not, read it here. After writing that post, on a whim, I wrote to each company requesting a sample of their product to review on my site. I honestly didn’t expect to hear back from anyone.

Stephanie Quesnel, from Second Denim, wrote back immediately and said that they would “love” to send me a pair of Yoga Jeans. We talked sizes and I received them shortly thereafter.

Prior to them arriving, I anticipated what something called “Yoga Jeans” would be like: Cottony and comfy like yoga pants but looking like jeans. On the 0-10 (yoga pants=0, jeans=10) scale, my mind pictured them at around a 4. What about you?

When they arrived, they looked like jeans and felt like jeans. I put them on. They still looked like jeans and felt like jeans – albeit, a super-comfortable, quality pair of stretchy jeans – and not at all like yoga pants. My husband’s words when he saw them: “Those look like regular jeans.” and then “Are they gonna be your ‘new favorite jeans’?” (translation: “You look good in them.” or “You look happy in them.” not sure which).

So I write to my sister, who has been working in the clothing industry forever (why she gets to use “gusset” a lot) and tell her my thoughts and provide her the “ingredients” on the tag. She writes, “They sound like a regular pair of jeans to me which would not be that conducive for working out, especially yoga!”

So, now I get nervous. I have to wear regular-looking jeans to my yoga class to try them out!?!? I go to the Second Denim’s website to make sure these things are supposed to be worn during yoga and see this picture:

Then I read the tag: “…practice your asanas wearing your yoga jeans, they are filled with good energies, positive karma and were created to help you feel confident, beautiful. At peace.”

[Side note: I am new to yoga - I started taking a twice-a-week power yoga class at a local university in September. It is taught by an incredible woman who said her goal was to "infect" us with the love of yoga. She succeeded, I'm infected, and truly can't imagine my life without it. As Baron Baptiste said, "They came because they wanted beautiful bodies, but they stayed because they were inspired to be the best versions of themselves." Amen.]

But I digress…Yoga Jeans. So spend DAYS contemplating how in the hell I am going to pull off showing up to a yoga class in pants that are jeans. I’m actually nervous. Sally (link above) would laugh at me. One of the instructors at the Y keeps the room really dark, so that was a possibility.  My husband is adding stress by asking repeatedly, “When you gonna wear those jeans…[snicker]…to your yoga class?”

Then I get this email (click to enlarge):

[Heavenly sounds]

Ah….I TOTALLY missed the whole marketing strategy. Jeans that are comfy LIKE yoga pants. Makes so much more sense now. In hindsight, they probably shouldn’t have been on my jean-inspired, lounge-wear post.

So now I get to wondering: are these jeans so comfortable and stretchy and form-fitting that you CAN wear them during yoga like in the ads? I rolled out my mat and, in the privacy of my own home, spent an hour doing yoga. The answer is “yes.” I forgot I was wearing jeans during my first down dog. Yoga Jeans = stretchy soft deliciousness that hugged and stretched just like my favorite yoga pants.

Bottom line: These are great JEANS. They are super comfortable, stretchy, and flexible enough to do yoga in them. I wore them for another day and they really are my “new favorite jeans.”

However, I would not recommend wearing these to your yoga class unless you want peering eyes and “WTF” looks from your fellow yogis. Wait, I take that back. YES, wear your new Second Denim Yoga Jeans to your yoga class! And, hopefully, someone will take a picture of you while you are focused in your crow pose and email it to me to post. YES, do it!

Pittsburghers: You can get Second Denim Yoga Jeans at Larrimor’s – Downtown and The Galleria.