I really feel nice when figuring out and love yoga pants. I might put on them on a regular basis, besides I’m not certain they’re an alternative choice to common pants. Is there another for on a regular basis put on? One thing that’s as comfy and flattering but additionally qualifies as precise pants? — Mary, Raleigh, N.C.

Yoga pants — that’s to say, leggings however with a better waist and comprised of thicker materials than precise leggings (generally, although not essentially, with a little bit of flare on the ankle) — are clothes that, particularly throughout pandemic lockdowns, grew to become one thing of a pleasure to put on.

Prioritizing each consolation and motion, they allowed us to have our cake and snack on it at dwelling, too. Little marvel that, given the deal with well being and wellness and our more and more dressed-down day, they’ve develop into a fundamental a part of many wardrobes.

However because the return to work has picked up no less than some steam, so has the talk in regards to the precise “pants-ness” of yoga pants. Do they or do they not qualify? That is partly why they’re generally often called “boot-cut leggings” or “flared leggings” as an alternative of “yoga pants.” By borrowing the language of pants, they edge nearer to that class.

However let’s be sincere: Yoga pants will not be pants. Pants are there to reshape the physique indirectly. To tailor it into a special silhouette — straighter, longer, extra flowing — within the eyes of the watching world. To supply a modicum of safety or social camouflage. Yoga pants, however, are far more about revealing the physique in a few of its glory. And revealing the physique within the office or on the road is an advanced resolution.

Fortunately, the stylist Tina Chai stated, there’s a center floor. First, attempt to perceive what precisely it’s you want most about your yoga pants. Is it the component of stretch? The elastic waist? The truth that they sit near the legs however don’t constrain them? The best way they announce your exercise routine to the world? Then determine which of these values is most vital. Almost certainly, there’s a real-world substitute.

Certainly, an Italian model known as Excessive Sport has just about made its identify by providing very costly stretch pants with a little bit of a flare. (It calls them the Kick pants.) They’re comprised of technical cloth and derived from just about the identical genetic materials as yoga pants.

To not be outdone, manufacturers like Alo Yoga have expanded their choices to incorporate pantlike kinds that nonetheless share many qualities with yoga pants (and are extra inexpensive than Excessive Sport variations).

Wherever you store, Ms. Chai suggested that you just search for “pull-on pants — no buttons or zippers.” Then, she stated, select a “knit that’s tightly woven and compact so it offers the pants construction, which makes them flattering, however with a little bit of stretch, which makes them comfy.”

Lastly, for some styling oomph, she suggests pairing your yogalike pants with a high or jacket in the identical coloration for a monochromatic look. “It will possibly take you from the workplace to a celebration or the aircraft, all with the change of a shoe,” she stated. And perhaps a solar salutation or two.

Your Fashion Questions, Answered

Each week on Open Thread, Vanessa will reply a reader’s fashion-related query, which you’ll be able to ship to her anytime by way of e-mail or Twitter. Questions are edited and condensed.