The Shapewear Experiment: Can You Dress Yourself Thin?

“Do I look fat in this?”  How many times have you asked yourself or someone else this question.  An otherwise perfectly satisfactory outfit in terms of color, fabric or style is not going to make us happy if it adds bulk.  A large part of what we are really judging in a particular design is whether it makes us look thin.

It’s a fact of life fashion designers know.  With their business dependent on department store buyers placing large orders for their collections, they send out all of their designs in microscopic sizes on skeletal models.   Whatever objections critics may have with the designer’s colors or styles, the designer, through the choice of models, has removed any objections to the designs being figure unflattering.  And that translates to better sales.

It’s also a fact of life that anyone who has been to a job interview, reunion, wedding or business presentation knows.  Recall the 2/3 of hiring managers who will hold being overweight against you or fitness-conscious bosses, like President Obama.

So, if there was a garment that made you look instantly thinner no matter what you wore, it would be a hit, right?  Everyone would want one!

Is there such a garment?

Sort of.

Enter the girdle—or a variety of new compression garments that reshape us into more svelte figures.  This new highly engineered underwear promises to smooth fat bulges and take inches off our waists, hips and thighs.

Throughout history, women have used corsets and girdles to create hourglass waistlines.  The disappearance of these devices in the last 30 years or so was seen by many as a symbol of the increase in women’s rights and power.  So why are they coming back now?

The skyrocketing obesity rates in this country and around the world are most likely to blame.  Now that being overweight is the norm, we desire the rare, slim figure.  I honestly believe that we covet thinness so much now that we have forgotten what real thin people look like.

Thin does not mean perfect.  It does not mean “no fat” it just means “low fat.”  While society has always decried the fashion industry’s obsession with thinness, the super-tiny body images we are confronted with today are disturbing.  When even stick-thin models are no longer thin enough and must be severely Photoshopped to be ridiculously, mythically and inhuman-ly thin, like this model who lacks ribs, or this one whose entire body has been stretched and waist nipped so that she looks like a human bobblehead doll, the thin obsession has gone too far.

As an exercise in curiosity, I wanted to know what kind of “cheat” effect you get from the heavily engineered compression undergarments.  Is it like the Photoshop effect?  Is it like temporary liposuction?  Would it transform my already slender frame into a size zero?  Can you breathe in those things?

From reviews of several different brands of compression undergarments, I learned that it was easy to find compression garments that will smooth out fat bulges to create a smooth appearance but that most don’t actually change your size in terms of inches.  Several people swore that the only undergarments that actually change size are the South American brands.

South America?  The most body conscious people in the world don’t live in Los Angeles?  It is now hard to say which nation is the most image conscious but perfectionist beauty standards originating in Colombia and Brazil appear to have influenced the world.

The New York Times writes that “Beauty is a national obsession in Colombia.”  Colombia hosts hundreds of beauty pageants each year and Colombia is one of the leading countries in the world for plastic surgery (along with Mexico and Brazil).  I was surprised to learn that many Americans travel to Colombia and Brazil for plastic surgery treatments, taking advantage of the exchange rate and the highly experienced plastic surgeons there.  It makes you wonder if the compression underwear developed out of the compression garments worn after plastic surgery procedures like liposuction.

Following the South American trend, I purchased two compression garments, one from Colombian maker Vedette and the other from a shapewear line from Brazilian-born plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Rey of Dr. 90210 fame.

Just looking at the garments made me nervous.  They are very, very, very, very tiny and made of strong rubberized fabric.

Reluctantly, I pulled on the Vedette shapewear garment, a knee-length tanksuit style with reinforcing panels on the stomach and back.  It took some muscle power to actually get it on but once on it wasn’t all that uncomfortable.  It was like wearing a tight swimsuit.  I took my measurements before and after putting on the garment and found that I had lost nothing from my waist and hips but had lost one inch off of each thigh.

“Where did the inches go?” my husband inquired.

“I have no idea.” I said, perplexed as he was by this trick of body engineering.

I picked out the three most challenging garments in my closet: a snug-fitting black knit dress, a pair of military-inspired cotton pants and the Old Navy “Sweetheart” pencil-leg jeans.  I tried them all on with the Vedette shaper underneath.

To my disappointment, there was no miracle effect where all of a sudden the garments slid on easily and I appeared one size smaller.  They basically fit the same.

I took before and after shots for you (attempting to disguise myself and continuing my closet clean-out efforts by reviewing my collection of hats).

Do you see a difference?  The left hand image is without the body shaper.  The right hand image is with the Vedette shaper on underneath.

After the Vedette experiment, I tried on the Robert Rey waist cincher garment which was like a pair of extra long bike shorts going from mid thigh to below the bustline with an 8”  boned corset in the front with hook and eye closures. Like the Vedette garment, it took some muscles to pull on the Dr. Rey shaper.  After hooking the corset shut, I took my measurements.

Dr.  Rey’s shaper took about 1 inch off my waist and about 1 inch off my hips but did nothing for my thighs.  I tried on my challenge garments and again found that they basically all fit the same.

I don’t think I will be wearing these shapers very often and am not sure exactly when I would wear them.  I was surprised that once you have them on they are not that uncomfortable.  It was a little tight bending at the waist in the waist cincher, though.  They help you maintain your posture and support your core muscles, although my husband noticed this and said I looked “stiff.”

As for the downsides, the shapers are a bit hot and are particularly miserable in humid Washington August weather.  If you consider it torture to wear regular pantyhose in the humidity, imagine wearing the equivalent of thick, full-body pantyhose!

Also, you have to worry a bit about the shapewear showing under your clothes.  Sometimes a strap slips out under a tank top. My husband spotted the corset lines of the waist cincher beneath the knit dress.  Is it worse to have fat bulges or to be caught wearing compression underwear?

It was a relief to take the garments off.

The girdle trend is not just for women either.  The Washington Post recently road tested shapewear for men and gave this assessment:

“To see for ourselves, we dutifully plunked down $58 for a Spanx compression shirt, opting for a tasteful black V-neck. We discovered it’s not a T-shirt and it will snap back like a rubber band if you stretch it. We banged our nose trying to pull it over our head. It felt like wearing a wet suit, only you don’t get to go to the beach.”

–Neely Tucker, “Girdles for men? Beer-bellied guys are taking a cue from the ladies.”  The Washington Post, August 19, 2010

While these shapers might make a noticeable difference with some outfits or hold a tummy in for a special occasion, they don’t make the kind of dramatic changes you see with actual diet and exercise. For most situations, I would prefer to see someone just wear their natural body with confidence.

Have you tried shapewear?  Does it make a difference for you?  What are the most challenging clothes to fit into in your own closet? Please share in the comments.