Hold your breath. And suck it all in. Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand, Skims, is from every angle, a massive success. It’s sexier than Spanx. There are tummy-controlling bodysuits, high-waisted shaper shorts, size-inclusive swimwear and, of course, that bulge-smoothing maxi dress that’s in every fashion influencer’s closet. When it launched in 2019, Skims sold out its entire stock in 10 minutes. Kardashian made $2 million in profits that year. Last year, the brand made her $600 million richer, after Skims hit a $3.2 billion valuation.
Like Skims, Kate Hudson’s Fabletics and Victoria Beckham’s VB Body are other successful celebrity-driven shapewear lines. Online and off it, dupes abound in every price range.
We’re living in an age when, for the first time, we’re viewing all bodies as beautiful. So how come shapewear is having a moment? It’s bad enough to have unattainable standards for young people. But Audrey Hepburn has become the gamine old-lady ideal. What happened to ageing gracefully without feeling the need to suck in one’s midsection? Can there truly be a body positivity movement when we’re still held to punishing beauty standards?
The big squeeze
Reza Shariffi, National Award-winning costume designer and stylist, says he relies on shapewear sparingly when he styles celebrities for movies and red-carpet events. “But if I’m making a garment and need to accentuate specific areas, I do use, and recommend, shapewear, because it helps enhance how a person is supposed to look.” He says the it helps him achieve what he had visualised.
{{/usCountry}}Reza Shariffi, National Award-winning costume designer and stylist, says he relies on shapewear sparingly when he styles celebrities for movies and red-carpet events. “But if I’m making a garment and need to accentuate specific areas, I do use, and recommend, shapewear, because it helps enhance how a person is supposed to look.” He says the it helps him achieve what he had visualised.
{{/usCountry}}He doesn’t recommend shapewear to all of his clients. It’s uncomfortable, for one thing. “And if you’re in a hot and humid place like Mumbai, it can create other kinds of issues.” It’s not for everyday and officewear either, no matter what Kardashian says. Restrictive, unyielding shapes are great when you’re facing the cameras for a few minutes. They’re not made for sitting, walking, eating, breathing deeply or going to the bathroom in.
So essentially, shapewear is the very antithesis of enjoying the body you’re in. And it’s endorsed by women whose bodies seem to have no need for it in the first place. The exception seems to be singer Lizzo, whose gender-neutral shapewear line Yitty (in collaboration with Fabletics) released in the US last year. It doesn’t seem to have made too much of an impact.
Stretching it
Can shapewear and body positivity then truly exist in the same universe? “It depends on what you wear it for,” Shariffi says. “For people going about their daily lives, I don’t think it’s realistic. But if your profession demands it, use shapewear to your advantage. It should support you, not restrict you. If someone has a biggish midriff area and wants to take that in, and it will help them feel nicer and more confident about themselves, they should absolutely go ahead and wear a comfortable bodysuit.”
The category is so wide, it promises solutions to problems few knew even existed. A thigh-slimming torsette is essentially a corset for the thighs. There is such a thing as a back-smoothing bra. A compression cami is useful to minimise a large bust. A Lycra sari petticoat keeps pleats secure without the flared-out silhouette.
Just view it as an aid, not a crutch. The corsetry, the unyielding elastic, the eight shades of nude and 12 size inclusions exist to work under outfits, not to fool wearers into believing this is what bodies should look like all the time. “On special occasions such as weddings, absolutely wear shapewear under your fancy best,” he says. “If it makes you look good and feel good for the moment, why not?”
It’s becoming part of non-celebrity wardrobes, anyway. “Just this morning, I was browsing through a few references, and I saw guys wearing corsets as an accessory,” says Shariffi. “Under-bust corsets seem to be replacing cummerbunds. I think the future is going to be about shapewear being worn inside as well as outside, like fashion accessories.”
BRB, adding the Skims bicycle shorts (which are basically active wear plus shapewear plus athleisure) to cart and feeling poor yet almost beautiful at check-out.