Best Capri Leggings with Pockets: A Styling Guide

Best Capri Leggings with Pockets: A Styling Guide

The best capri leggings with pockets are true capris, about an 18 to 22 inch inseam, with pockets that hold a phone without swinging. I sorted my favorites, an everyday rotation and the Amazon shelf, and I explain how to wear the hem.

Why capris keep coming back

Capri pants were designed by Sonja de Lennart in 1948 and named after the Italian island where they caught on in the late fifties. Audrey Hepburn wore them, Brigitte Bardot wore them, and Mary Tyler Moore made them the most talked about trousers on American television as Laura Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show. What all of those versions had in common was the length: a clean stop somewhere between the calf and the ankle that shows a little leg and makes flat shoes look intentional.

 

The legging version is less glamorous, but it is built on the same idea. A capri legging ends around the low calf, usually somewhere between an 18 and a 22 inch inseam, which is exactly why people like it for hot runs, school runs and anything involving a bike. The pockets are the other half of the appeal. Every pair in this edit has them, and I have only included true capri lengths, no shorts, no skirts and no full-length styles. The first grid is my favourites, the second is the everyday rotation, and the third is the Amazon shelf.

Numbered collage of eight capri leggings with pockets: Beyond Yoga, Under Armour, Athleta, Sweaty Betty, BloqUV, Roaman's and lululemon.

Our favourite capri leggings with pockets

What actually decides it

Three things decide whether a capri legging gets worn: where the hem lands on your leg, whether the pockets hold a phone without swinging, and whether the waistband stays put when you bend. Everything else is colour.

 

Beyond Yoga's Spacedye Out of Pocket capri has pockets on the hips and a 21 inch inseam that hits at the low calf, which is the length I would start with if you are unsure. Athleta's Salutation Stash uses bonded side pockets that lie flat, Sweaty Betty's Power Cropped adds a back zip pocket for keys, and BloqUV's compression capri is made in UPF 50+ fabric, which I like for long summer walks. Lululemon's Fast and Free crop is the shortest here at 19 inches, with two drop-in phone pockets, and Roaman's makes two side-pocket capris in extended sizes.

 

A test I like: put your phone in the pocket and jog up a flight of stairs. If it bounces against your thigh, the fabric is too thin for you.

 

What I would skip: a light colour you have not squat tested in daylight. Do it once in the changing room and you will never have to think about it again.

Numbered collage of eight capri leggings with pockets under $45: All In Motion, Tek Gear, DSG, RBX, Rocky, Jockey and Under Armour.

Women's Everyday Capri Leggings With Pockets

How to wear them

The easiest way to make a capri legging look considered is to treat the hem as part of the outfit. A low sneaker with a short sock shows off the gap between hem and shoe and looks sharp; a high sock or a chunky trainer shortens the leg. One colour top to bottom, a black capri with a black tank, makes even the simplest pairs look polished.

 

This grid is the everyday rotation. All In Motion and Jockey are the plain black workhorses, with side pockets and 20 to 21 inch inseams. RBX's squat proof capri has a full-size pocket on each hip, Tek Gear's Ultrastretch sits at 20.5 inches, and DSG's Momentum capri is the shortest at an 18 inch inseam. If you want colour, DSG's running capri comes in a bright tangerine with pockets on both legs, Rocky's comes in pink, and Under Armour's HeatGear capri is a charcoal heather with a drop-in side pocket.

 

What I would skip: an oversized sweatshirt that stops at the exact point the legging starts. Either tuck the front or go longer, so the proportions read on purpose. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Best Capri Leggings with Pockets and The Best Leggings for Every Budget and Body.

Numbered collage of eight capri leggings with pockets under $30: Colorfulkoala, CRZ Yoga, Amazon Essentials, Willit, The Gym People, Ewedoos, RBX and Heathyoga.

Capri leggings with pockets from Amazon