Fancy Yoga Clothes and Accessories

Hey y'all!

I tend to say that you do NOT need fancy yoga clothes to do yoga... but sometimes it's nice to treat yourself to something comfortable and fun. In that case, here are a few of my favorite yoga clothing companies and suggestions for the best yoga accessories.

Yoga Clothes

As a tall, lean person, I have my favorite style of pants and tops for yoga. These might not work for you, but I'll share them anyway so you can see for yourself if they are something you like or not!

My two favorite companies: Hard Tail and Prana

If you can overlook the skinny models and the sexualized photos, check out Hard Tail for the most comfortable and fun (they have tye dye!!) yoga clothing. Hard Tail's yoga clothes have been my go-to for years. I appreciate that the clothes are made mostly of cotton, with only a bit of lycra in them to make them both comfy and flexible. Most yoga clothing today (I'm thinking Athleta and LuLuLemon) are made of synthetic materials that just cannot compete with the soft feeling of cotton (in my opinion). Plus, clothing made out of cotton is better for the environment. Here are the most recent pants I purchased from Hard Tail- I love the roll down waist, which these pants feature, and although my favorite Hard Tail pant cut is the bootcut, these are straight legged pants and I love them just as much as the bootcut. Another thing I love about Hard Tail is that they manufacture their product in the USA.

The Prana Yoga Clothing company has been around as long (if not longer) than Hard Tail. Two friends founded the company in 1992 and started working out of a garage in Carlsbad, CA making both yoga and climbing clothing with a focus on sustainability in both materials and packaging. Over the last 10 years they have been owned by the Columbia Clothing company and they have branched out to now offer all sorts of active wear (including swim suits). I've bought their regular pants and used them for hiking, working at the barn and also as "professional wear" when I worked as a full-time science teacher! Since being taken over by a bigger manufacturer, some of the small business attention to detail and quality has disappeared, but it's still a great place to get good clothing for yoga and other activities. AND they have men's yoga clothing too!

A few of my recommendations:

While I haven't bought a yoga top from them in awhile, this yoga top looks like a good pick for light support and a little looser fitting.

It doesn't work that well for yoga, but this skort is SO comfortable! I have one, and absolutely love it.

Another thing I like about the Prana brand is that they offer a larger range of sizes to hopefully fit everyone's body.

Yoga Blocks

Ok, not all blocks are created equal. My first recommendation would be to buy the 4 inch yoga block. The 3 inch is cheaper, but you will hate it. Just take my word on this one. Unless you are a TINY person, and I mean tiny. You need the 4 Inch block. You can buy the foam blocks- but after awhile your finger nails will start to make marks in them and they aren't as nice looking. BUT they come in a wide variety of colors... so if you are into coordinating... get yourself a colorful foam block. Just remember- 4 inches.

If you want to go eco friendly, and buy a much more expensive block, you will not only get tons of karma credit, you will also both love and hate this kind of block. Sorry about using the H word (again). These (cork) blocks look nice and are a good pick if you are thinking about the impact on the Earth. But they are heavier (a LOT heavier) than the foam ones. Which means they don't flip as easily (leaning on a block can be a dangerous thing)! But at times you might not want your block to be heavy- when you are squeezing it between your knees and holding your bridge pose etc. But, if you ask me (and if you are reading this, let's assume you are asking me), I would pick the cork blocks over the foam blocks every day. Sometimes I need to put a little blanket over my blocks when I lay back on them... because, they are hard and not soft like the foam ones, but the stability and environmental impact to me is worth the other negatives.

You will also want a yoga strap. My recommendation is that you get the nicer D ring strap- in any color that brings you joy. They come in a huge range of lengths. 6 feet is good for most everyone. The link above is from Hugger Mugger (another great yoga accessories shop) where you can get great quality bolsters and cork blocks too!

Yoga Mats!

The link above (for the cork blocks) is to my favorite yoga accessory brand Manduka (which has yet to sell out to the big corporations). It was also started by an architect turned Yogi!

When you are looking for a yoga mat, you need to consider that the cheaper the mat the less it will hold up in the long run. The cheaper mats also smell terrible and they generally start off very slippery, and you need to wipe off whatever it is they put on these mats to keep them fresh and flexible. The cheap mats come in different colors and lots of cool designs, but when you become a regular practitioner of yoga, you might consider this investment in your yoga journey- a proper mat will be comfortable (you aren't going to cry when you are on your knees), and it will last you years. Pick a DARK color so that it doesn't look dirty after the first year of use. My mats have always been either black, dark blue or a dark rosey magenta color. This is my favorite Manduka mat

These are the cheap mats (below)... see how pretty? But I don't have a photo of the Manduka mats so you'll have to:

Click the link above to see and buy a REAL yoga mat!

Yoga Bolsters

You are going to want one of these (bolsters) eventually. They are amazing for helping you release stress from your body. I teach a class each week called Restorative Yoga, and we spend 50-70% of the class on one of these round, supportive bolsters. It's heavenly. Here's one from Manduka. Be careful about where you purchase these bolsters, if they are too small or too squishy, they won't be as supportive.

One final note...

YES! you can get all of these things by ordering them on AMAZON... but, what kind of a world would we live in if only one company got all of the money? Maybe we are finding that out...

Please consider ordering directly from the company, even if it costs you another $10 in shipping... it's going to be worth it in the end... and you will have done your part to beat the monopoly game put on by the broligarchy.