Beautifult orment
Shapewear pulls you, pushes you, squeezes you into a figure few come by naturally. There's a reason it's not called comfortwear.
By SHARON FINK
Published April 22, 2006
It's never included among the most horrific scenes in movie history, but it should be:
Scarlett O'Hara hanging on to a bedpost while Mammy rearranges her internal organs lacing up Scarlett's corset in Gone With the Wind.
No wonder Scarlett was a bit prickly. You would be, too, if you spent most of every day encased in one of those things. Whalebones, horns, reeds, even wood and steel. Heavy corded rope. It's hard to buy into some fashion historians' view that corset pain has been highly overrated.
The corset is still around today, but in milder form as decorative outerwear. Its death as a daily undergarment is one of the sanest things to happen in fashion. Except that what hasn't died is the female desire to be thinner, shapelier and sleeker, whatever her shape. So we keep strapping on things we think will make us that way.
And most of the time, pain and discomfort are still part of the experience.
Shapewear, as it's now generally called, is big business these days, and not just for special occasions. It's hard to find a purveyor of underwear that doesn't sell at least one kind of stomach smoother/thigh trimmer/chest-to-ankle flesh compressor and give it one of those delusional names like Barely There, MiracleSuit and Lipo in a Box.
It's harder still to find one of these garments that doesn't make you feel like you're in a vise. And in Florida, one that doesn't make you sweat like you're wearing thermal underwear.
There are waist cinchers (like corsets, but made of nylon, spandex, Lycra or microfiber, and fastened by eye hooks); combo stomach, hip, buttock and thigh shapers (they resemble bicycle shorts); body suits; half slips, full slips and camisole tops; even thongs (a lot more material covers the stomach and lower back).
Some look perfectly harmless. Others look like medieval torture devices.
Sara Blakely has some insight into shapewear construction. The Clearwater native turned her footless pantyhose into the world-known company Spanx, and she expanded into body shapers because of customer requests. (She recently introduced a three-item line called Assets - footless pantyhose, regular pantyhose and a mid-thigh shaper - at Target to help fund her new business development foundation for women.)
In her early hosiery development days, Blakely had an eye-opening experience about how the industry determines sizes.
"They put (hosiery) on plastic forms and all stand back with clipboards and go, 'Okay, that's an A. Okay, this is a B.' And I'm like, wait. The B can't talk. That B form can't call you at lunch and go, 'I ripped them off my body, they're miserable,' or 'The waistband was binding me,'" Blakely said.
Blakely, whose business acumen helped her earn a fan in Virgin Records-Virgin Airlines founder Richard Branson on the reality series The Rebel Billionaire, has lots of good ideas. She has noticed, for instance, that some thigh shapers have leg bands that are too tight and bulky. So she made them smooth for her Spanx and Assets shapers.
But neither she nor any of her competitors has managed to create totally trouble-free shapewear. So here are tips on how to work with what we have.
LOVE YOUR BODY: This isn't stuff to wear every day, no matter how vain you are. The whalebones are gone, but the nylon, spandex and microfiber that have replaced them are binding and uncomfortable in their own way. Save shapewear for providing the smooth line that special garments require. If you really feel the need to wear shapewear every day, it may be time to reconsider your wardrobe.
DO RESEARCH: Ask your friends and family if they have a favorite brand of shapewear and why - or why not. Check the Internet for customer feedback and other independent reports. Talk to the sales associates at department stores that stock a variety of brands.
FIT CHECK: Always try it before you buy it. If you're looking for a shaper to work with a specific piece of clothing, take that piece shopping with you and try it on with the shaper. It's pointless - and possibly a waste of money, depending on the return policy - to buy a shaper for something specific without knowing if the two items really work together.
If you're looking for a shaper for a general purpose - a camisole or bra top, or a thigh shaper to work with snug or sheer clothes - try it on with a snug shirt or pants.
REFLECTION CHECK: Examine the fit critically in a mirror, preferably one with multiple views. The shaper isn't working if it smooths in one place but creates a bulge in another. For thigh shapers, examine the leg band: Is it so bulky that it's noticeable through the pant leg? (Wacoal also makes thigh shapers with smooth edges.) If you want a thigh or midriff shaper to wear with something clingy or sheer, don't get one that has a pattern woven into it. You'll be shaped, and everyone will notice because they'll be looking at the pattern of flowers showing through the fabric.
FEEL CHECK: Concentrate on how the shaper feels on you. If you want to rip it off within two seconds of putting it on, nothing else matters.
THE COMPROMISES: Odds are, the shaper will not be 100 percent comfortable every second you have it on. Be realistic about what you can live with and what you can't.
And shapeliness rarely comes cheap. Some sample mid-thigh shaper prices: $15 for an Assets shaper at Target; $25 to $58 for Spanx, depending on how much they cover; starting at $42 and into the $50s for Wacoal, depending on how firmly they hold you in. At the lowest end, Hanes now has a Body Enhancers line that includes what it calls a firm control mid-thigh shaper for $6.99. You may have to balance need with budget.
And remember, it could be worse: Just think of Scarlett.
Sharon Fink can be reached at (727) 893-8525 and fink@sptimes.com.