In today’s world where dysmorphic syndrome is an epidemic, anorexia-bulimia is celebrated, and knives and scalpels are taken up to combat the love handles, a trace of fattiness is quarantinable. An alpha woman needs to be too thin, her butts and thighs in place, and vie for divine proportion. It’s worth losing an anxiety filled sleep to know the peck order.  Paranoid women run in droves early morning, go on not-a-morsel crash diets, sweat buckets on treadmills and get laid to emulate the picture perfect babes on the glossy covers of the fashion magazines. To their pity, they know about photoshop, but not the shapewear.

Shapewear is a secret beauty weapon rendering flawless body while camouflaging the problem area. Unlike the ugly torturous corsets and girdles of the Victorian era, modern day foundation garments are high on aestheticism and comfort values as they are made of light and breathable fabrics, and can be availed in a broad range of options which can be worn everyday under different styles of clothing. Its function is not to enhance a body feature but to control and smooth the display of one while enabling the clothes to fall better and give women confidence. The leading brands like Spanx, Victoria’s Secret, Jockey and Body Wrap produce such garments which include body briefs, tummy tuckers, control panties, bodysuits and slips.  

Till few years back, shapewear was one of the best kept secrets of fashion, but the recent celebrity endorsement with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce, Rihanna, Jessica Alba and Gwyneth Paltrow, revealing affront about their innerwear, made it come out of the closet. Moreover, the popularity of the TV shows like ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Desperate Housewives’, featuring women in corsets ala 50s, along with the romanticization of the vintage fashion of 20s and 30s, revived the hibernating shapewear trend, but with a modern flavour – manufactured with advanced fabric technology.

With the glitterati and luminaries around the world wearing it under their Swarovski studded evening gowns, the trend is prevailing like wildfire. Few years back, Aussie actor Isla Fisher revealed that her weight loss secret was a pair of tummy tucking knickers. ‘The Confessions of Shopaholic’ star overtly owed her on screen figure to Spanx. Even lately, Gary Bigeni, an Australian designer was so sure that fashionistas are embracing lipo-lingerie that he partnered with the Spanx for his runway show and teamed up these wonder garments with his signature pieces including draped silks and clingy jersey fabrics. The designer wants to show the shoppers that there are alternatives to g-strings such as hipsters and seamless bras which don’t dig into buttocks and half-slips are perfect under the skirts.

Shapewear in Indian Context

In India, the prevalence and relevance of shapewear is inchoate. Indian society has always been resistant to change and when it comes to innerwear, it might take ages Designer Varija Bajaj says, “In India, shapewear is mostly used in the form of tummy tuckers. The other forms are not so easily available and are yet to be explored. A good brand tummy tucker or any other form of shapewear does work in terms of camouflaging into a well-toned body to a certain extent. However, a very heavy weight looks strangled, tiered and sausaged inside clothes. Besides shapers being very tight (for the purpose they are meant to be) are extremely uncomfortable and hamper blood circulation. Therefore they cannot be used for long hours anyways. Although Indian market is yet to be exposed fully to shapers, I feel it will have a mixed response and take its time.”  The world might be going all gaga over shapewear but its obliviousness and non-availability in India is somehow the main reason which has kept this wonder innerwear away from the reach of the Indians. However, Designer Chandrani Singh Fllora says good shapers are consequential in Indian context and can be availed in good lingerie stores across the world. She furthers, “Shapewear like tummy tuckers are in now, as Indian women have heavy structures because of our food habits and unfavourable weather conditions. So In India everybody cannot have a perfect body and shapers are very much required to give shape to the body.”

The Science of Shapewear

Dr. Varun Katyal, Cosmetic Dermatologist & Anti-Ageing Expert discusses the pros and cons of shapewear. He says, “Today, shapewear has gotten a makeover and is much more comfortable and less constricting. It not only helps you look fitter and in shape, it also helps one to get an instant tummy tuck or breast lift or put some extra junk in the trunk. The best thing about using high quality shapewear or foundation garments is that they help you look slimmer and smooth out bumps, bulges and panty lines. For people who want a smoother silhouette, but who aren’t ready for an appropriate surgery such as liposuction or tummy tucks etc., shapewear can be a good alternative.”

The benefits of Shapewear

1. Better fit of clothes: Every woman can benefit from shapewear-regardless of her figure or fitness level. It helps to make sure that your body looks its best in your clothing.

2. Instant inch loss: Shapewear gets rid of bra bulge, underwear lines, and muffin tops. It can be used to help you fit in a smaller size while still dieting to reach your desired size. It can also be used to lift and firm trouble areas, like the stomach and the buttocks.

3. Posture improvement and training of abdominal muscles: Shapewear pieces that cover the entire abdominal area and incorporate shoulder straps can also be instrumental in helping to pull the shoulders up and back, giving you better posture, which can also help you to look thinner. Its prolonged use may also be able to help strengthen the abdominal muscles. 

Risks regarding Shapewear

1. Blood clots may be formed due to constriction: This constriction happens mainly when wearing shapewear on your lower body. There is an elastic band where the shapewear ends, on either the calves or thighs. Sometimes these bands can be too tight, squeezing the calves and thighs, and restricting blood flow to these areas. Loss of blood flow may result in swelling of the legs. Another effect of blood flow loss is blood clots in the legs, which can travel to other parts of the body.

2. Acid Reflux: Some people who wear shapewear to slim their midsections find that if it is too constrictive, they experience heartburn. The garment squeezes the midsection and presses on internal organs, which can causes gastric digestive acid to travel up the esophagus, especially after a large or heavy meal.

3. Problems in breathing: If your shapewear is too restrictive, you may have trouble breathing properly. An extremely tight garment may squeeze the lungs, causing your lungs to have difficulty expanding enough to take in a proper amount of oxygen.

How to wear Shapewear Safely?

Shapewear is a wonderful product, and a generally safe one. Just be careful not to get too carried away in your quest for awesome curves. For all the reasons listed above, tighter is not always better, and can even be harmful. Make sure that you choose a size that fits comfortably on you. To test whether you are wearing the correct size, make sure the waist stays in place. If it doesn’t, it’s the wrong fit. If you notice squeezing or binding when you sit down or cross your legs, this means you need a longer leg length. If you notice that your curves aren’t smoothed out, this means that you need a larger size, not a smaller one. The fact is you have to listen to your body. If you are uncomfortable, it suggests that you are not wearing the right type or size of shapewear, and this could lead to health risks that just aren’t worth it.

Shapewear vs. Surgery

The major benefits of using shapewear over surgery are that there is no need of pain killers, there is usually no down time, there is usually no risk of scarring, it delivers immediate and convenient results and there is usually no need to worry about major complications if you choose the right kind of shapewear and use it in the correct way. However, the results of using shapewear may not be as promising and as desirable as the results after getting an appropriate surgery.

Shapewear comes with a lot of anticipation (in fact effectiveness) for the women desiring that perfect pin up look. The like of Dita Von Teese boasts of 16 inches of waist with her corset on. If above dissertation doesn’t elbow you to don one, then I finally sign off with few interesting takes our fashion fraternity has on shapewear.  A famous model says, “In this calories flooded scrumptious world, it’s hard to resist that extra love layer over your waist though how hard you may work out. Shapewear plays a savior in those ‘I-hate-my-body’ moments. It hugs you at the right places like your man and you feel good about yourself.” Whereas, other model-turned-actor smirks, “I don’t use shapewear but it’s a wonderful garment playing hide- and-seek with your body features. As I don’t get to see others innerwear but I am sure half of the world is wearing it.” 

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