REVIEW: Zaggora Flares, the results

My two week challenge period of trialling Zaggora Flares has come to an end and I can assure you, the results were not what I was expecting… But I know the question you are all asking is do they work??

Over the first few wears, I found my Flares to be comfortable, although sometimes a little constricting around the stomach when I was trying to get my breath back after some particularly high intensity cardio. There has been nothing better in recent sub zero temperatures than walking back from the gym with my Flares on as they have kept my legs beautifully toasty warm. As ever, the softness of the skin on my legs is now without parallel – an effect which lasts far beyond the initial period of wear.

I have been unable to take any proper measurements over the two week period and I will explain this below, however I have certainly noticed that my stomach is a bit tighter and more toned and my waist is certainly about 2 or 3 inches smaller than it was in post-Christmas period, which brings me back to normality. I haven’t seen any noticeable change to the rest of my legs. My thighs do not appear any more toned and the rest of my legs, especially my calves, had good tone anyway and so except for the soft skin I have found no appreciable change.

I found the Flares comfortable to wear overall, but when doing a mixture of exercises on the Power Plate I noticed that I was getting a bit of sag around the knees and crotch – not a particularly flattering look! I wonder if this was because I am perhaps a bit small for the Flares, my legs may not be long enough. In summary though, the Flares were comfy and seemed to make an appreciable difference to my torso over the period of wear, but not to my legs. I really like the new waistband, which I did not have on my original HotPants. I think they are more comfortable around the top and the absence of the zip makes them easier to put on. Getting Flares off is a lot of fun as well, I’ve started calling it ‘The Peel’ and have found just pulling them off so they are entirely inside out is the most effective method that requires the minimum amount of flailing on the bedroom floor, like a landed cod.

The really disappointing thing, however, was that after about the first week of wear I noticed that the stitching around the middle of the Flares had started to come loose. There were no holes or appreciable risk of a hole appearing though, so I continued to wear them. However, after about another two wears, the stitching was all clearly pulling itself out along the main seam that sits along my bum. Being the cautious type, I did not particularly want to increase any risk of exposing my arse to the other members of my gym and so I have stopped wearing the Flares. Because they are based around being such a tight fit, a seam going seemed to me too much of a risk to take.The combination of vigorous exercise and unravelling stitching is the stuff of nightmares to me.

Naturally, this has messed with my measurements and I haven’t, strictly speaking, completed the two week challenge properly. I am very surprised by the problem. I’ve never had any issue with the quality of Zaggora products in the past so I am working on the assumption that I just got a randomly defective pair. That’s a shame, but I would be very disappointed to have paid £69.99 for them and the stitching to go this quickly.