Buying Alo Alumni Short comes down to a few checks you can do from the product page. Everything else is preference. A high waistband stays put; a mid one rolls. Squat test anything light coloured before you commit to it. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is compression, waistband height and fabric recovery. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: halfdays.com's Hallie Midweight Merino Legging at $130, and carbon38.com's Regular Rise 7/8 Legging in Takara Shine - Chocolate Torte at $118. The first is the considered buy; the second is the one to start with. A high waistband stays put; a mid one rolls. Squat test anything light coloured before you commit to it. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

One colour top to bottom makes cheap activewear look expensive. From the second group, Varley's Freesoft Super High Legging 25 ($88) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, activewear, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 activewear here from 14 brands, $20 to $238, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. felina.com's Velvety Soft High-Waisted Leggings at $20 is the low-risk way in, and Retrofete's Cyra Leather Legging at $238 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. On alo alumni short specifically: the difference between the top and the bottom of this list is real but smaller than the price gap suggests. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: if you would not buy it at full price, you do not want it on sale.