Bowing to Peer Pressure

As usual, the room is full of hotties.

Hotties in color-coordinated lululemonPrAnaHardTailNike, frontin' like Yogi is their name and Level Three is their game.

It's noon on Monday, a choice time for a freelance writer to blow off some adjectives with a free-flowing yoga class.

But my pants have more pills than the Valley of the Dolls. And don't even get me started on the thorough dusting of follicles they've attracted from pets I don't own.

Now, before anybody tries the whole "You don't 'get' yoga if you think fashion matters on the mat," seriously? Shut Up.

1) I know your kind. The chances are very good that you're just being pretentious.
2) Fashion always matters.
3) They might as well hold trend whore CONVENTIONS at yoga and Pilates studios. All we need are badges.

Now I paid $80something for these pants just a year ago. They honor my booty, yes. And they're highly functional, obvi. But I hate that I look like I've been mingling with Persian long hairs and sand paper between classes. And Vishnu only knows what they're made of.

So let's just say I could justify buying a new pair, as an Necessity.
(Because if I did, they would most definitely be NEW.)

What would I buy?

Not lululemon again. Even if they do hem to fit my legginess, I do not support planned obsolescence masquerading as fashion.

Hard Tail is all-American, all non-organic cotton. And while it may be The Fabric of Our Lives, by accounting for 70% of the world's pesticide use, it's also The Death of Our Ecosystems.

PrAna's one pair of organic cotton pants is poorly designed, the colors are for blind people and the inseam is too short. Ditto on the hemp pair.

Speaking of inseams, Marika's Shiva Shakti line makes me look like I've outgrown my Commune Cousin's hand-me-downs.

Nike has a couple of DriFit options with 61% organic cotton, but the rest is nylon and Spandex (boo). And anyway, their low-rise eclipses my belly button.

All of Athleta's fabrications have TMs. This is not a good sign.

Gaiam.com, you actually sell this, which cannot bode well for our relationship.

And Patagonia, I love everything you stand for, but I wouldn't be caught dead doing the standing splits in anything you make.

Now I'm not saying I've exhausted all the options here. I'm just illustrating the point that it's sure as hell not easy to make sustainable clothing choices that aren't, well, ugly.

I have a newfound respect for that crazy-looking older lady in the braided headband and tie-dyed unitard. That could be me some day.