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Body shaping garments have been around for a long time. Used by both men and women, shapewear comes in many different types, and each garment is designed for the specific purpose of smoothing and contouring different parts of the body. This means that there are dozens of different styles of body shapers, all of which have unique characteristics, including fashion and fit profiles.
Because of the huge variety in body shaper garments, it’s often a challenge to understand how to wear a specific garment properly and with style. Wearing a body shaper incorrectly means it may not work as it is supposed to; as these garments are supposed to provide you with confidence in your appearance, it’s important to know how they should be worn. Here’s our in-depth guide on how to wear shapewear so that you get all those confidence-boosting benefits!
The first lesson in how to pick the right body shaper for you is to understand that you can, and should, match your body shaping garment to whatever activity you have planned. This is a fundamental step, as the right choice of shapewear will underpin your entire outfit.
It all comes down to how much smoothing or body sculpting you need or desire for the occasion or activity. High compression garments will deliver more dramatic results, but that’s not the only factor you need to consider. If you’ll be wearing light, thin fabrics or an outfit that hugs your curves closely, you will also need to select a seamless shapewear option as well.
Finally, you need to identify the target areas of your body that you feel need the most support. Selecting shapewear appropriately avoids over-shaping. This may require you to combine the use of two shapers at once for the exact results you’re looking for. Thankfully, if comfort is more important than compression, there are body shapers made with lightweight, breathable fabrics that can still provide great support.
Just as important as choosing shapewear appropriate to the occasion or activity is selecting a body shaper that compliments the natural shape of your body. Body shapers work best when they create balance between the top half of your body and the bottom half when it comes to your natural contours as well as when they keep those contours smooth for your clothes to lay naturally.
Thankfully, there is a wide variety of body shapers that target specific areas. Waist trainers, for example, will provide that flat, smooth stomach, but there are different types of shapewear designed to provide a smoother silhouette for your hips and thighs, lower legs, and upper body and chest as well.
Again, you’ll need to consider how much compression and coverage you need depending on your natural body shape. If you’re in need of extra support and coverage on the upper half of your body, open-bust garments that offer a customizable fit through adjustable straps are an excellent choice. Meanwhile, decide whether you need more smoothing and controlling or lifting and shaping your lower half and you’ll find an appropriate body shaper choice for this body part as well.
If there’s one thing that’s perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to how to wear shapewear, it’s got to be how to wear them under clothing. The whole point of a body shaper is to wear one in such a way as to make them undetectable while worn for hours at a time, after all! Granted, this can be a challenge, especially if you don’t have specific knowledge on how to wear one properly without it showing through.
It’s really no secret when it comes to how to wear body shaping garments under clothing the right way. The first thing you need to keep in mind is that you can select specific shapewear to complement specific outfits. A good example would be choosing a waist trainer that matches the day’s activity. You wouldn’t want to wear a brightly colored workout band under an outfit that’s made up of light colors and thinner fabrics unless you want it shining through like a beacon!
In this case, you could select a waist trainer, or really any type of shapewear, that sports a specific style in a neutral color or one that will blend better beneath your clothes. This is, of course, why many types of body shapers come in nude, as this color blends with skin tones much more easily. Additionally, the hooks and seams of many body shaping garments can show right through outfits made of thin fabrics, so either avoid these types of outfits or select a body shaper that minimizes these seam lines.
When it comes to giving yourself a truly breathtaking look, body shapers can deliver. Being able to step out in your favorite outfit knowing that your clothes aren’t bunching in the wrong places but instead hugging all the curves they’re supposed to provides an incredible confidence boost. You’ll feel like you can conquer the world, and rightly so – the right shapewear makes you feel like you could take on anything.
Yet you’ll only get this feeling if you’re wearing shapewear in a way that provides you all the many benefits these body shaping garments can provide. This makes it incredibly important to understand that there are different types of body shapers that are more appropriate for different types of occasions. It’s also crucial to select a body shaper that’s going to be a good fit for your natural body shape, providing support where you need it and not where you don’t.
Finally, knowing not just what type of shapewear you need also entails knowing how to wear these garments properly. Matching outfits to body shapers means building a show-stopping look that leaves these garments completely undetectable beneath your clothes. So keep all these important topics in mind when shopping for your next body shaper! You can also check out WikiHow's Page on how to wear shapewear!
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