In the world of shapewear, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed sheer amount of choice out there. From its humble beginnings shapewear has grown into a thriving industry. There are now thousands of variations in style, material, cut and colour to choose from. So if you’re just starting out you might wonder, what do I really need? Should I buy one of everything? What actually makes a difference, and how do I choose?
Control Briefs
This is an absolute staple of any shapewear wardrobe, and something many women like to wear on a daily basis. Control briefs can help slim down your hips, bottom and stomach to give you nice clean lines whatever you’re wearing. They work fabulously with jeans and tight tank tops, or opt for a boy-short cut if you need more shaping in your thighs. There are lots of different cuts to choose from depending on what area of your body you want to target. High waisted for torso control if you’re not wearing separates to low rise to sit under your jeans. Or maybe go for a seamless style for those clingier party dresses!
Body Suit
For the days you want to be all-out-drop-dead-gorgeous, a full body suit of shapewear is a must. Open busted body suits mean that you can wear your bra comfortably and not be restricted in your neckline choices. Or go for full support for your breasts right to your thighs! Shapewear bodysuits do it all – they slim the hips and hold in the stomach, lift the bottom and even provide some slimming around the thighs. Body suits are pretty infallible when it comes to reliability. They’re anchored from the shoulders so there’s no way that this piece of shapewear is rolling anywhere! So if you want ultimate contouring that doesn’t budge, this is a key piece to have in your wardrobe.
Shaping Shorts
If your thighs are your main concern, then shaping shorts are an absolute must. These are essentially bicycle shorts with added compression. Depending on where you want to start your control, you can choose mid rise, high waisted or under bust cuts. They work well to smooth and shape your thighs, bottom, hips and abdomen all at once. You do need to take your body shape into account when buying this kind of shapewear though – if you carry more weight on your thighs and not on your stomach, a waist-high pair will be fine, but if your weight is carried more on your stomach, or evenly spread, then your best option is a pair that comes up just under your bust.
Shaping Slip
If you’re wearing a floaty summer dress or a clingy party number you’ll need shaping that follows a dress line. Shaping slips are simple designs that sit underneath even the most figure-hugging dress, smoothing out lumps and bumps and giving you that beautiful silhouette. There are a range of cuts that can suit almost any dress length or neckline, from spaghetti straps to strapless. Consider the colour of shapewear that you buy here. Light fabric dresses will clearly benefit from nude underwear shades.
At Elle Courbee we believe that there is a shapewear solution for everybody and every body! We have a wide range of shapewear options to suit different sizes and shapes. We use brand size guides to help you to find the right sizing rom brand to brand. Then our returns policy means you can buy with confidence, knowing if something isn’t right, we’ll fix it right away.
Becky is a content manager who writes informed industry based articles for businesses and consumers. She’s written for Elle Courbee on women’s issues and fashion for a number of years.
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