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Style & beauty

Do you wear shapewear?

(49 Posts)
supermum48 Thu 17-Nov-11 10:21:30

Can anybody recommend any good shapewear? Preferably something that you can also breathe and eat in!!! I tried a 'waist clincher' once and had to take it off half way through the evening! Have just bought a new dress which I love, but could definately do with some underwear that would disguise all my bulges.

em Thu 17-Nov-11 10:26:39

Marks and Sparks have a good range which isn't outrageously expensive and works for me.

susiecb Thu 17-Nov-11 15:39:29

Didnt we throw off all these shackles once. I'm sure you would look fine and feel better without all this elastic stuff pushing you in places your body doesnt want to go.

yogagran Thu 17-Nov-11 23:16:20

The bulges have got to go somewhere, surely they'll bulge over the top if they can't go anywhere else. Be comfortable and content with how you are smile

harrigran Thu 17-Nov-11 23:26:16

In the 60s I was a skinny minnie but mother and elder sister insisted I wear a roll-on to make sure everything stayed in place. The very second I could I left those infernal garments off. A few months ago I tried those control pants with legs, I looked like a muffin in the middle and I had a tyre round each thigh. One look in the mirror and I took them off and wore some looser trousers, job done smile

jogginggirl Thu 17-Nov-11 23:48:48

Oh harrigran how I laughed at your description and yes, yogagran the bulges have to go somewhere...............!!! I can hardly even bear the thought of going back into tights - that is the nearest I will get to shapewear!! grin

NannaAnna Fri 18-Nov-11 01:43:14

Happy to say my muscles still do the job they were designed to do ;)

greenmossgiel Fri 18-Nov-11 12:09:56

You lucky woman NannaAnna! I bought myself a 'shaping' vest top and the control pants with legs from M and S.......the picture was as harrigran described! However, I persevered, and as the day went on, found the vest rode up and pushed my fatness down so that I looked rather pregnant! Not a good look for a 61-year-old! grin

tanith Fri 18-Nov-11 15:01:20

No don't wear it , not even tights, if I have a few bulges so be it.. I would rather wear a looser top than try stuffing myself into tight fitting things.. I get hot enough wearing ordinary underwear and could defo not tolerate tight elasticated things on me all day... I'll just be myself thanks..

JessM Fri 18-Nov-11 16:10:49

Can't be good for you can it. Restricts your breathing and the flow of lymphtic fluid etc. Bad as high heeled shoes.
My Nana used to wear a corset. I think it went - long vest first, then corset (you had to have a vest underneath cos they were not washable and had to last a few years!!!!!!) then nice roomy knickers and a full length petticoat.
The upshot must have been really weak "core muscles" back and front, cos you'd get used to relying on the stiffening and pulling-in effect wouldn't you.

Do men do this kind of thing to their bodies and suffer all that discomfort? No they don't!
There are lots of fashions that skim over bulges aren't there?

pompa Fri 18-Nov-11 16:43:23

If my manly physique was the result of shape wear, I'd sue them ! grin

Greatnan Fri 18-Nov-11 17:01:59

I wore those horrible long leg pantie girdles until a friend whispered to me that every time I whirled round in a jive my full skirt swung out and showed the legs. Not very sexy!

Ariadne Fri 18-Nov-11 17:24:27

I remember my mother telling me that, soon after she'd given birth to me, her mother whisked her off to the Spirella lady to be well corseted. Never saw her wearing one though; she was admirably slim. Nanna's however, were salmon pink with laces and suspenders, and whalebone....

I occasionally wear a "body" -a black one. Sitting on the bed with me one morning, as I put this on, DGD3, aged 2 at the time said "ooh, Nannie - fwimming?" (sic) January, snow on the ground, and her eyes alight with anticipation. smile

JessM Fri 18-Nov-11 18:01:23

Pompa... lurking on the underwear thread...???

Greatnan Fri 18-Nov-11 18:16:33

My mother came out to visit me when I worked in Monaco, her first trip abroad, at the age of 80. My two teenage daughters accompanied her. They were dressed in their usual outfit of jeans and leather jackets. They sailed through immigration control, but my mother 'pinged' the alarm. The metal strips in her corsets had activated it. She had had quite a few brandies on the plane and giggled like a schoolgirl when she was frisked. Needless to say, the girls thought it was hilarious.

bagitha Fri 18-Nov-11 18:25:38

This thread makes me smile

Annobel Fri 18-Nov-11 18:36:57

Greatnan grin

em Fri 18-Nov-11 19:19:38

Oh, come on! We aren't talking about Victorian or Spirella corsets here! If you find an all-in-one which is attractive and comfortable - then wear it! Some of my favourite dresses just look better without bumps so I wear suitable underwear. I CAN breathe and move and eat without sloping off to the ladies to undo my corset laces. I'm a long way off being a saggy old lady who doesn't care any more, but neither am I desperate to look artificially svelte! Go for it Supermum.

JessM Sat 19-Nov-11 21:45:25

I think its the "and comfortable" bit that may be the problem. I even find wearing a bra uncomfortable and am doing that wiggling out of it without disrobing trick by evening tide.

pompa Sat 19-Nov-11 23:10:42

I am always lurking somewhere grin.

harrigran Sun 20-Nov-11 00:35:38

I was buying my wedding outfit for DD's wedding many moons ago, I chose the suit and did a twirl and the assistant said " I am sure it will look fine when you get a good foundation garment on" I felt about a size 24 instead of the 14 that I was.

bagitha Sun 20-Nov-11 08:19:02

I find Sloggi pull-on bras very comfortable. Worn them for years. I had to have a firmer bra for dancing, even though I'm not a large cup size. It's quite odd that people bra-designers seem to think small breasts are made differently from large ones. It's probably done on a computer nowadays and we all know they can't think! I have also tried various sports bras. The trend nowadays seem to be to squash rather than support. I'm not keen on that kind. There was a thread a bit back about inventions of the Devil. Shouldn't shapewear go in that category wink?

Greatnan Sun 20-Nov-11 09:23:12

And high heels, bagitha. Bad for your back and pelvis, made to please men. (Unless they are smaller than their partner, like Tom Cruise, in which case they like flatties).

Annobel Sun 20-Nov-11 09:37:26

So right, Greatnan. I was grateful to Princess Di for making low heels fashionable. Since she died, they just seem to have got higher and higher. I blame 7" heels for my GD's cracked elbows but she's not going to admit that! I'm not even going to think about what shapewear would do to my innards. grin

Carol Sun 20-Nov-11 09:40:57

That was a helpful Sloggi tip bagitha. I didn't know about these - have just ordered a couple, as they sound ideal for me thanks