Product Review: PopFit Leggings

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen ads for Pop Fit leggings. They are ALL OVER IG and Facebook. And I’ll admit, once again, I got sucked in by the ads. These friggin’ targeted ads are getting me lately.

Anyway, the schtick is this: if you go to the website via a social media ad, you can get one pair of leggings “free.” And by free, they mean you pay $11.99 for shipping. Being a stay-at-home mom with very limited discretionary spending money, $11.99 for a pair of leggings is about all I can afford. I was further sucked in with the “sign up for our VIP subscription program and get ANOTHER pair of leggings FREE!” TWO pairs of leggings for $12? Even if they aren’t that great, as long as they’re comfy I can wear them around the house. And they have POCKETS! I made sure to review the rules for the subscription program, and bolstered by the knowledge that I could cancel any time, I went for it.

If you’re like me and your interest has been piqued by PopFit, read on to see what I experienced. Since I got different styles, I will review them separately below.

PopFit “Stella” Leggings

First things first, these leggings SO do not pass the squat test, despite the phrase “Squat Test Approved” that is included in all of Pop Fit’s marketing. In fact, you can actually see my underwear through these even when I’m just standing around. This may be due to the light color, but still. Definitely not opaque. Not a total deal breaker, as I often go commando when exercising, but then there is the concern that people will see my butt crack. Ew.

The phone pocket is quite deep, and definitely wide enough to accommodate my iPhone 6s. I think it could probably handle an iPhone Plus or similar extra large smartphone too.

The fabric is 95% polyester and 5% spandex, so very plastic-y, and makes a distinct and unpleasant swishing noise as I walk. Maybe if your thighs don’t rub together when you walk or run, this won’t be an issue for you, but I have large, muscular thighs, so it’s kind of awkward to swish around all the time.

These are supposed to be full length leggings, but they definitely are a bit short, more like a 7/8 length on me. For reference, I am 5’7″. As far as sizing goes, I ordered a medium, which is my usual size, and they fit fine. I have a pretty short torso, so even though these aren’t a high waist style, the waist comes up high enough that I don’t get a muffin top.

I’m not a huge fan of the waist band. It’s sort of awkward. There’s a piece of elastic that’s about 2″ wide sewn into a much wider piece of fabric. I have concerns that the elastic will twist and roll and do weird stuff over time. It also digs into my stomach more than a nice, wide waistband would.

When I wore them to run, the first thing I noticed is HOLY CROTCH SWEAT, BATMAN! It looks like I peed myself. Again, that may be due to the color, but still. Not a good look. They did stay up well, and I didn’t have any chafing issues, but the fabric was pretty warm, even in my 50 degree basement.

PopFit “Ava” Leggings

Well, these leggings were a fail from the get-go. I tried them on and they fit ok, so I took the tags off. The day after I got them, I put them on in the morning to wear around the house. I never even got the chance to do more than lounge around, and within an hour, they had developed two holes where the mesh meets the regular material.

I immediately took them off, took the photo above, and emailed Pop Fit customer support. After some back and forth with order confirmation numbers and photos, they send me a link to order a free replacement pair, and said I didn’t need to send back the damaged pair.

Since I was keeping the Ava leggings in spite of the damage, I still decided to test them out. They are much the same as the Stella leggings–cheap material that does NOT pass the squat test, narrow, uncomfortable and unflattering waist band. Also, the pockets are weirdly positioned toward the back of the thigh and not very big–I have to work hard to get my iPhone 6s in there, so if you have a larger phone, you’re probably out of luck. These have a higher waist and are definitely longer than the Stella leggings.

As far as workouts went, they stayed up pretty well, but they were pretty warm in spite of the mesh. Mostly I just feel like it’s only a matter of time before they fall apart.

PopFit “Piper” Leggings

These were the replacement pair for the damaged Ava leggings, and they were the worst of the lot. I loved the pattern details on the black leggings, but these actually had a strong plastic odor out of the package, almost like they were off-gassing. They also are somehow not as stretchy as the other pairs, so they don’t stay up well, and the waistband hits me in just the wrong spot–the same narrow elastic cuts into my spare tire and gives me bad muffin top.

They are shorter than a true legging like the Stella, and have the same small, weirdly positioned pocket as the Ava, and surprise surprise, they don’t pass the squat test. So basically, they are the worst aspects of the other two leggings combined.

Overall
With a PopFit VIP membership, I would get a new pair of leggings each month, subscription style, for $30. I would also get 40% off additional purchases and free shipping. Based on my experience with the three pairs I got, I cancelled my membership before the next round.

In my opinion, these leggings aren’t worth the money or the hype. While I ended up with three pairs of leggings for my introductory payment of $11.99, I feel like I got three pairs of leggings that I don’t really want to wear and are just going to take up space in my drawers until I get tired of looking at them and get rid of them. I would have been better served just saving up for a month or so and buying one really nice pair from Athleta or Lululemon. And that’s what I’ll do from now on.

Have you tried PopFit? What did you think?