Why Some Leggings Fail the Squat Test (and How CVG Designs Around It)

One of the most frustrating moments when buying gym leggings is realizing they don’t hold up once you actually move. Everything feels fine when you first put them on, but the moment you squat, sit, or bend, doubt creeps in. Are they still opaque? Or did they just betray you mid-workout?

This problem shows up far more often than most people realize, even in higher-priced leggings. At Constantly Varied Gear (CVG), it’s one of the biggest reasons we obsess over testing, construction, and fabric behavior before anything ever launches.

Opacity Has Less to Do With Price Than People Think

Many shoppers assume expensive leggings are automatically better. In reality, see-through issues are rarely about cost alone. They’re about how fabric behaves under tension.

Leggings are made from knitted fabrics, which means they’re built from interlocking yarns rather than a solid sheet of material. When those yarns are stretched too far apart, light passes through. Two pairs of women’s leggings can look identical on a hanger and perform completely differently once real movement enters the picture.

Why Ultra-Soft Fabrics Can Be Risky

Softness is often marketed as a premium feature, and comfort absolutely matters. But fabric that stretches too easily can lose visual density quickly.

Some materials feel amazing at first touch but thin out dramatically when you bend or squat. Others feel slightly firmer but hold their structure even under heavy movement. At CVG, we prioritize fabrics that balance stretch with recovery, so they move with your body without visually breaking down.

Compression Plays a Bigger Role Than Most People Realize

Compression isn’t just about performance or muscle support. It’s one of the most important factors in keeping leggings opaque.

Well-designed compression leggings limit how far the fabric stretches during movement. That controlled stretch prevents yarns from separating too much, which reduces transparency. This is why many people find that truly squat proof leggings tend to feel more supportive rather than overly loose.

Fit matters here as well. Leggings that are too small are constantly over-stretched, which makes even high-quality fabric more likely to turn sheer. Compression should feel supportive, not strained.

Construction Details Make or Break Performance

Fabric is only part of the equation. Construction choices determine how stress is distributed across the garment.

Elements like seam placement, gusset shape, waistband design, and even the way leggings with pockets are integrated all affect where tension builds during movement.

If too much strain is concentrated in one area, that’s where transparency shows up first. CVG passes on countless designs during development because the tension points aren’t right. If a legging can’t distribute stretch evenly, it doesn’t make the cut.

Color, Prints, and Visual Density

Color choice has a bigger impact on opacity than many people expect. Light colors show stretch more easily, and solid shades reveal thinning faster than prints.

This doesn’t mean lighter leggings are a bad idea. It simply means they require more precision in fabric selection and construction. Prints, when done correctly, help mask subtle changes in density, especially when applied to dyed fabric rather than sitting on top of it.

Why Standing Still Isn’t a Real Test

A mirror check while standing tells you very little about how leggings will perform in real life.

Movement exposes weaknesses that static testing never will. Squats, lunges, sitting, and bending all reveal how fabric responds under tension. That’s why CVG tests leggings dynamically before launch, and why we always encourage customers to test at home with real movement.

The CVG Approach

After more than a decade of designing leggings, one thing is clear: see-through issues rarely come from one mistake. They happen when fabric choice, construction, fit, and stretch behavior all work against each other.

Our goal at Constantly Varied Gear is simple. Leggings should let you move confidently without second-guessing what’s showing. That means obsessive testing, intentional design decisions, and refusing to cut corners.

Because great leggings don’t rely on trust alone. They earn it every time you move.