Modern girdles get the glamour treatment

From the "everything old is new again" file, out comes the girdle for the modern woman…

Perhaps inspired by stick-figure-thin stars like Nicole Richie and Teri Hatcher, girdle makers are spreading the news that it’s not nerdy or passe to wear a tamer or a power panty, the modern description for the good old girdle.

They’re the new generation of slimming undergarments, but they still carry old promises of flattening bulging tummies, lifting flaccid butts and taming that dreadful visible panty line (VPL).

And the target market for newfangled girdles isn’t women with middle-age spread, it’s younger women – even those who are slim.

"We get a lot of younger, smaller women, who really might not even need it, but sometimes it’s psychological. It just makes them comfortable with their bodies," explains Vanessa Nagley, manager at Westmount’s Sox Box, which has a whole section devoted to shapers.

Red-carpet habitues Oprah, Gwen Stefani and even style goddess Sarah Jessica Parker have confessed their love of spandex tamers from Sassybax, Cass And Co. and Spanx. But since it’s pretty much a given we won’t be strutting our suburban selves down a red rug anytime soon, why bother with a girdle?

Simply put, today’s fashions are anything but baggy and the slim fits may require a little curve taming. Case in point; trendy Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dresses are VPL disasters waiting to happen. Even flimsy tees from James Perse can show back fat ripples, and designer denim from Citizens of Humanity can leave your thighs looking like Christmas hams.

"Slinky dresses are very in now," said Claire Dahan, owner of Miss Swiss boutiques on Mont Royal Ave. and St. Denis St., where they stock clingy viscose wrap dresses. "They’re snug, but at the same time they don’t hold you in at all, so you’re essentially hanging out there."

According to Dahan, there’s nothing wrong with wearing a girdle, especially if it’s seen as young and hip.

Fashion Television host Jeanne Beker has also praised body slimmers in her Globe and Mail column. She reminded readers that "back in the ’60s, even the hippest, skinniest women wore girdles," and she tells us to think of body slimmers as "New Age versions of old-fashioned panty girdles."

That’s just what the folks at La Senza would like us to think. After 15 years in the lingerie business, the Canadian retailer is set to launch a line of girdles next month. La Senza’s clientele is between 18 and 35 years of age. Still, it claims to have introduced the girdles due to "customer demand."

According to executive vice-president, Caroline Sacchetti, "the Shapewear is absolutely being marketed as sexy and young. These aren’t the girdles of the past. Everything is seam-free, low-waisted spandex and it’s not heavy or body-restricting."

The girdle revival is bulging with such claims.

"We’ve tested internally and more full-figured women tend to drop a dress size. That’s almost an inch in hip measurement," said Miriam Freibauer, chief marketing officer at Phantom Industries, makers of the Silks Shaper. "They have a tighter weave under and between the bum cheeks so they lift, separate and support your bum."

About Editor-in-Chief, Madeline Figueroa-Jones

Madeline hails from a close-knit NYC family and started her plus size modeling career with a spread in BBW magazine. In early 2003 Figueroa was selected to appear as the spokes model for the "Hips, Heels & Curves" Fashion Show, continuing on to casting director for the Dangerous Curves 2003/2004 Tour. After appearing on several television segments including Aqui Y Ahora for Univision she began reaching out to the plus size community by serving as a moderator for VenusDivas.com, Empowerment Editor for AmaZeMagazine.com. Madeline and her husband Luke reside in the Battery Park city area of NY and operate lucaspictures.net.

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