Everything worth knowing about A Guide to Brands Similar to Lululemon is below, starting with the part that changes what you buy. Buying the same silhouette from a brand that makes it properly ages better than buying a near-copy of a famous one. A convincing alternative copies the proportion and the material, not the logo or the hardware. 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: us.organicbasics.com's Track Pants at $40, and Monday Swimwear's Fairfax Legging 27" - Heather Grey at $97. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. 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, normakamali.com's LEGGING W/ FOOTIE W/O WAISTBAND ($60) 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 13 brands, $28 to $195, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. Monday Swimwear's Acadia Long Legging - Stone Jersey at $28 is the low-risk way in, and Ruti's Black Billy Smart Legging at $195 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. Read as a set, they get you close to A Guide to Brands Similar to Lululemon without any single purchase being compulsory. 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: buy the one you can picture using this week, not the one you are saving for later.