Black leggings are not going anywhere, but the interesting buying is happening in pale colours — baby blue, beige, soft neutrals and the butter-toned yellows that have carried over from spring. Pale activewear is a harder purchase than black, because colour is where opacity, fit and fabric quality all become visible. Here is how to buy it well.
Are baby blue yoga pants squat proof?
They can be, but only if the knit is dense enough — pale colours show strain far more than black does. When a legging stretches over the thigh, the yarn spaces out and light passes through. On black that reads as slightly lighter fabric. On baby blue or beige it reads as your skin.
The test is the one everyone already does in the changing room: bend forward, and look at the back of the thigh in the mirror. If the colour goes noticeably paler at full stretch, the fabric is too thin for a pale colourway. Our Yoga High Waisted Legging in Baby Blue is built on a heavier double-knit specifically because the colour demands it — a pale legging needs more fabric than a black one to reach the same opacity.
If you want the full breakdown of what makes a legging opaque, our guide to non-see-through leggings covers the fabric side in more detail.
Which colours are actually trending in activewear for 2026?
Pale blues, butter yellow, mocha and soft sage are leading the palette, with cobalt as the loud option. The common thread is that the season's colours are light rather than saturated — a shift away from the black-and-charcoal default that dominated activewear for most of the last decade.
Two combinations are doing the heavy lifting. Cool blue with butter yellow is the brighter of them. Chocolate with baby blue is the quieter one, and the easier to wear if most of your wardrobe is neutral.
What do you wear with beige yoga pants?
Tonal or high contrast — avoid the middle. Beige with a slightly deeper beige on top reads considered; beige with a mid-grey reads accidental. The Yoga High Waisted Legging in Beige works hardest under a white or off-white layer, which keeps the whole outfit in one tonal family.
For the high-contrast version, pair beige with the Soft-Skin Padded Crop in Black and let the crop do the definition. Adding a third colour is where pale outfits usually fall apart.
Flared or legging in a pale colour?
Flared, if you want the colour to look like clothing rather than kit. A pale flare carries a colour better than a pale legging because the volume through the hem breaks up the block. The Yoga Flared Pant in Beige is the version of this we would wear off the mat — it reads as a trouser from a distance.
If you are choosing between the two silhouettes generally, our flared vs straight-leg guide is the fuller comparison.
How do you keep pale activewear looking new?
Cold wash, inside out, no fabric softener. Softener coats the fibres and dulls pale colours faster than washing does. Air dry rather than tumble — heat is what turns a crisp beige into a tired one over a season.
If you only buy one pale piece
Make it the legging in baby blue and build around it. It is the piece that changes an outfit most, and the one where fabric quality is most obvious. A pale colour is a good test of a brand — anyone can make black look dense.
For the coordinated version of the same idea, the Cloud Lounge Set in Ivory takes the pale-neutral palette into something you can wear straight out of the house.