Body shapewears are garments that you can wear inside other garments and efficiently hide the extra bulges in the body. They create an illusion of a flat stomach and accentuate the waistline. This shapewear have been popular among women for a long time now. Over time there have been multiple changes in the fabric, shapes, styles, and sizes.
The shapewear fits tightly on the body-altering its shape. In the early days, the corsets were made of hard materials like iron wires which could cause major damage to the organs and make breathing very difficult. Nowadays the materials used are cotton, linen, polyester, silk and many others which ensure comfort as long as you wear it.
Shapewears can be worn by women of different sizes. Even if you are not overweight, you can wear one of these under a dress to get a perfect shape. There are many types of shapewears available, some that cover up the whole body making the body look slimmer while some end high on the waist focusing on the stomach and waist alone. Getting the right shapewear is very important to get the benefits out of it.
Now shapewears have a lot of benefits, but there are many disadvantages too. So it is recommended that you use them carefully without leading to any health issues or discomfort. In this article we will look into both advantages and disadvantages of using shapewears.
Benefits of Using Shapewears
1. Enhances the appearance
The shapewears are used to address some specific regions of the body like the stomach, waist, bust, hip, and thighs. The suck in the fatty areas bringing out the hourglass figure. The feminine silhouette is highlighted once you wear shapewear. It can be worn under your everyday garments, or during exercise. Shapewears can help you enhance your appearance in a few seconds by just wearing it and you don’t have to worry about losing weight or any cosmetic surgeries. You can even hide your belly pooch in minutes by wearing best shapewear for lower belly pooch.
2. Posture improvement
Shapewears are mostly elastic in nature and provide compression to which helps to keep the back straight and the stomach in. The support that the shapewear provides helps to alleviate pains in the lower back and lumbar regions, which are quite common. They improve your sitting and walking postures. For women who are overweight, shapewears help to reduce the stress on their backs. Like women with muffin top can get rid of muffin top by wearing best shapewear for muffin top.
3. Improves the Abdominal Muscles
Shapewears are great for women who have given birth. It can be quite difficult to get back in shape. The abdominal muscles become loose and months of exercise is needed to get back to normal shape. Some women may even gain more weight after giving birth. So, in such situations, shapewear is the safest and quickest way to get the body in shape letting you wear all types of clothing.
The most important thing is that the shapewear restores the muscles in the abdominal section. If the shapewear is used continuously over a period of time then the abdominal muscles will gain back the strength. The organs will also get back in shape naturally and the posture is also corrected in time. Therefore, shapewears can be really useful for the women to correct their body post-pregnancy.
4. Encourages perspiration to help lose weight
Body shapers will tightly hug the body and lead that leads to compression and perspiration. Perspiration can be useful in losing weight. There are a few fabrics which cause more perspiration but also keeps the shapewear breathable. Lycra or silicone are the common materials that help in losing weight. Such materials warm up the body leading to higher perspiration.
Along with pressure on the body, these fabrics also cause friction when you move around in them. This also leads to sweating. Some shapewears are designed for being worn during exercise as they enhance your weight loss activities. A good diet and exercise along with shapewear can help you lose the flabs faster.
5. Helps to lose inches instantly
Shapewears can be a blessing for women who have worked out for hours trying to reduce their waistline. Low waist jeans and tight tops are a trend in women’s clothing. To be able to wear them with confidence one needs to have the right shape. Now exercising to lose weight can be a long term solution and exhausting for many.
So ti fit into the trendy clothes all you need to do is put on shapewear. It will instantly reduce a few inches and let you fit in a size smaller than your actual. The shapewear sucks in the flabs instantly and gives you a flat stomach and great waistline. So, If you have a large stomach then you can look slimmer instantly by wearing the best body shapers for large stomach.
6. Helpful in the aging process
The aging process can bring in meany pain and posture problems in the body like the humpback, prolapse of bosom, flattening of the bosom and hips, prominent appetite, a pail waist, bulky legs, turnip legs or other similar problems. Many women are also known to be suffering from bladder prolapse.
In all these cases shapewear can be helpful. It provides a good amount of support to the body which can help avoid having such posture problems or help you recover from such symptoms. In the case of bladder prolapse, it helps to lift up the bladder slightly and supports it. It basically keeps the body in full support as you age.
7. Boosts the self-esteem and confidence
Having a good shape is always a boost to self-esteem. Shapewears can change your outer appearance instantly and can also change your mind about losing weight. With shapewears weight loss can become a little bit easier. It brings you in a good shape instantly while enhancing perspiration which boosts the weight loss procedure.
The shape you see once you wear shapewear can motivate you to work out to achieve that shape in real. To be able to wear dresses of your choice can boost confidence, and that can happen with shapewear. You will have your weak spots covered perfectly and flaunt your curves giving you all the confidence you need.
8. Easy to wear and discreet
The shapewears are worn under the garments to flatten the stomach and reduce the waistline. These garments are very easy to wear as well. You can easily slip into one from the legs or pull it down from the top. Some come with leg cutting which is easy to wear from the legs.
The best part is that these shapewears remain completely invisible under your clothing giving a smooth effect on the top. So, no one will ever know if you are wearing shapewear. Moreover, it is totally comfortable to wear all day long. Even if you are sweating inside, with the choice of the right fabric, the shapewear will keep you dry and you won’t feel uncomfortable inside it.
From the above points, it is clear that shapewear can be really useful for multiple purposes. But we know that nothing is 100 percent perfect ever. Shapewears too have some disadvantages in the long run which cannot be ignored. Let us look into some of the cons of wearing shapewear so that you can decide on whether you actually need one or not.
Cons of Using a Shapewear
1. Affects the normal functioning of the lungs
Some of the shapewears cover the whole body for giving an overall slimmer look. They may flaunt your figure well but these shapewears do so by putting pressure on the body. This causes the lower lobes of the lungs to be compressed and it is not able to expand normally as you breathe in and out.
This causes less amount of oxygen to enter the lungs than what is needed. This starts affecting the breathing and the normal functioning of the lungs. So, you should be careful when you are using shapewear. Don’t wear it for too long and don’t go for the ones which are too tight for fitting into a smaller dress, because your health will ultimately be affected.
2. Irregular blood circulation in the body
The shapewears don’t put equal pressure on all areas of the body. The ones which end high on waist compress only the stomach and waist area while the rest of the body is as it is. This makes it difficult for the heart to pump the blood to the compressed areas. The full body shapers sit tightly on the body compressing the skin and muscles which reduces the flow of blood.
Embolism is a condition in which the blood clots are formed in the body and these clots ultimately travel to the heart and the lungs which may lead to immediate death. Wearing shapewears for long hours may lead to this condition if any blood clots have formed. Taking such risks is definitely not advisable for the sake of having a good shape.
3. Indigestion
Shapewears are mainly used to flatten the stomach and the waist region. Many women love to have flat stomachs so they can fit into the slim dresses to look good. Now, the shapewear may give you the look you desire, but it comes with a cost. The shapewears exert pressure on the internal organs like the stomach, liver, and intestines. These are the organs that make up our digestive system.
Constant pressure on these organs can adversely affect the digestion procedure and you might face problems of indigestion. People who use shapewears on a regular basis often face problems of gastritis and acid reflux. Therefore, it is important that you avoid wearing shapewears for a long time and don’t use it if you feel too much pressure in your stomach region.
4. Affects the bladder
Shapewears are very easy to put in but equally difficult to remove. More because they are worn as inner garments. This restricts urination as people avoid using restrooms thinking of the inconvenience in removing the shapewear. This builds up pressure in the bladder which is not a good thing to happen. Some shapewears are tight enough to put pressure on the bladder also like the other organs.
So, this whole thing can lead to high levels of discomfort and in the long run may even cause urinary infections. Restricting the natural movements in your body is definitely not a good idea. Hence, you should always choose health over good looks and avoid using garments which can harm you.
5. Numbness in legs
The shapewears usually end in your upper thighs or below it. They compress the thighs as long as you are wearing the shapewear. This naturally reduces the blood flow to the legs. In many cases, some nerves are also compressed in the thigh region which can lead to numbness in the legs and cramps too.
6. A breeding ground for bacteria
It might sound gross but shapewears do lead to bacteria and fungi growing on the skin causing infections. Shapewears cause sweating and moisture to develop in the area covered. The sweat that comes out of us is a natural process to flush out the toxins.
Now, this sweat and moisture remain trapped between your body and the shapewear for long hours which become a breeding ground for fungi and bacteria. This may lead to skin infections. For the ones who wear it every day, they should wash it regularly or wear different sets. Repeating the same one for two or three consecutive days without washing may lead to serious infections or rashes.
7. Affects posture
Even though shapewears are worn to get the posture right, they might make the core muscles lose and weak. By wearing shapewear your back becomes upright in a few seconds and your posture is good as long as you are wearing the shapewear. It is not something happening to the body naturally. So, in the long run, it is not a good way to improve your posture.
How to Wear a Shapewear?
If you want to buy sculpting lingerie to wear your favorite clothes, you must take certain elements into account to make the right choice. These selection criteria are:
- Buy the right size of shapewear it should be close enough to the body to hide imperfections. However, you should not feel compressed. To be sure you are buying the right size of underwear, you should try it on.
- Check the quality of the fabric to be sure that the fabric of the underwear is of good quality, during the fitting, you should check that it smoothes the skin well, so the fat folds should be kept in place during the movements.
- Opt for a sculpting lingerie whose inner layer is designed with a natural fabric, so as not to cause allergic reactions or irritations.
You should also choose your shapewear according to the correction you want to make to your body. Indeed, there are products with low correction that emphasize the shape of the body to highlight certain parts. Then, there is the medium-firm sculpting lingerie which is usually made of a corset to refine the waist. Finally, there is the high-correction underwear for overweight women. These are made of very dense materials and can be uncomfortable.
Final Verdict
Shapewears have their advantages and disadvantages. Overweight women or women after pregnancy may need shapewears. But wearing it just to have a better shape may not always be a good idea. Keep your health in mind before you try out shapewear and keep visiting Best Picks for Her to get your next best picks.
