Shapewear Strategies for Thanksgiving

By Adam Welsch
Cupid Intimates

Thanksgiving is almost here and, if you’re like most Americans, you have a lot to do.  Either you’re buying groceries and preparing your home to host guests, or you’re preparing to travel to another family’s home so they can do all the work.  The payoff comes on Thursday when you’re ensconced in family, friends, football, and food.  Of course, on Friday, the pressure returns as holiday shopping begins in earnest.  So, with everything else already on your plate, so to speak, let me ask you this.  Have you selected your shapewear strategy for Turkey Day yet?

Shapewear strategy?  This idea might strike you at first as being a bit silly, but think about it for a minute.  Thanksgiving Day likely presents you with a few predictable, waistline difficulties that you probably want to minimize.  Whether you’re a seasoned shapewear wearer, or a complete stranger to spandex and nylon, dropping by your favorite store’s lingerie section before Thursday, and incorporating some new garments into your Turkey Day ensemble, could pay huge dividends in terms of clothing comfort.

So, what are those predictable, Thanksgiving Day challenges on which new shapewear can have such an impact?  For those of you who normally wear shapewear, or like to wear it on special occasions such as large holiday gatherings, your customary shapewear pieces may not be suitable to handle your tummy’s larger-than-average expected expansion.  After all, Thursday’s a day when most Americans stuff themselves with more food than they do on almost any other day of the year.  Not only is the traditional Thanksgiving meal more extensive than most dinners, but snacking usually takes place all day long.  While shapewear smoothes, controls, and transforms bodies, it’s not supposed to be so unaccommodating that it causes discomfort when its wearers eat.  Therefore, regardless of the amount of control you expect from it, fit adjustability is a characteristic you should look for in your shapewear when anticipating a day of prodigious eating.

What is fit adjustability?  It’s the ability of a garment to stretch in certain ways that accommodates a change in body shape (within a given size), yet still allows the piece to perform its task of smoothing, controlling, or transforming the body.  So, if you like to wear extra firm control garments, your Turkey Day selection should be designed with stretchable, bonded panels placed independently of any seaming.  Such styles accommodate torso expansion at the release points between the panels, yet still deliver the control expected of them.  If, instead, you prefer wearing garments that deliver light to firm control, make sure Thursday’s choice is constructed with one ply of fabric instead of two.  It’s also a good idea to wear a piece made with a base fabric that contains a lot of stretch.  Different fabrics are made with different amounts of spandex fibers.  The more spandex and stretch a garment contains, the more forgiving it’ll be as your stomach fills on Thanksgiving.  You can also consider wearing styles that have vertical fit adjustability.  Some shapewear briefs, thigh slimmers, and slips are made with adjustable waists or rises that allow the wearer to place the waistband where it’s most comfortable on her.  It’s easy to imagine this feature being of great benefit as you sit at the table after a large meal.  Moving that waistband up or down just a bit could make quite a difference in your overall comfort.

Limiting food consumption is another predictable Thanksgiving Day challenge for many.  If you’re someone who doesn’t normally wear shapewear, Thursday can be a great day to “dip your toe in the water” if you want to prevent yourself from overindulging in all the goodies.  Wearing a silhouette that targets the tummy and midriff, like a bodybriefer, hi-waist brief, or waist cincher will provide compression to which you’ll be unaccustomed.  As a result, it’ll make you feel fuller, faster, since your clothes won’t expand as easily as you eat.  As a result, you’ll probably eat less.  And ladies, you might want to pass this tip onto your boyfriends or husbands.  Compression T-shirts and tummy shapers made for men are now available and could help them exercise similar portion control.

A final predictable challenge of Thanksgiving Day can be the need to spend a considerable amount of time traveling to get to the big event.  If you regularly wear shapewear, you’re probably familiar with the twin problems of bottom ride up (at the legs or hem of a silhouette) and waistband roll down.  These problems can be particularly bothersome and uncomfortable for those trapped for long periods of time in a car, where wardrobe adjustments just cannot be made.  The solution is to wear garments sporting a breathable, silicone finish at their leg openings (briefs, thigh slimmers, and bodybriefers) or at their ends (camisoles, torsettes, and waist cinchers).  Such edges prevent garment ride and won’t produce visible lines under your clothes.  They’re wonderful.

So if you want to enjoy a very comfortable Thanksgiving, make sure to have a shapewear strategy in place by Thursday.  Its commonplace to fret over the preparation of the turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie.  After all, if we want them prepared according to family tradition, and want to be happy with the outcome, we have no other choice.  But as the In Formed lingerie consumer you are, don’t forget to anticipate the needs of your stuffing as well.

Gobble, gobble.