IN FORM®

By Adam Welsch
Naomi & Nicole®

Since their invention in 1959 and subsequent widespread dissemination during the 1960s, pantyhose have taken a central role in the wardrobes of many women.  Replacing the previous need for wearing stockings with garter belts or garter-equipped girdles, pantyhose changed the hosiery landscape forever and gave women new-found comfort and fashion flexibility.  But since their creation, their makers have tried to position pantyhose as products that do more than simply smooth legs.  They’ve been sold as panty substitutes, VPL erasers, light control shapewear, rump raisers, and functional (if not shaping) leg wear.  Given that, are pantyhose merely hosiery, as most retailers and consumers view them,  with lofty but unjustifiable aspirations to sit aside conventional panties and shapewear, or are they a unique class of intimate apparel – a hybrid of hosiery, panties, and shapewear – that complete the “under-things” spectrum from socks to bodybriefers? (more…)

By Adam Welsch
Cupid Intimates

When you hear the word “shapewear,” what do you think about?   Images of waistline or hi-waist briefs, thigh slimmers, or bodybriefers might come to mind.  Or, you might think of more specialized silhouettes like waist cinchers, torsettes, or body-shaping camis.  Chances are, however, that you won’t envision the pantliner.  Available since the 1960’s, when pants and pant suits started to be widely worn by women, the pantliner has  experienced a waxing and waning of popularity throughout the past five decades, due in a large part to continual changes in outerwear fashions.  Known alternatively as “leggings” or “long legs,” the pantliner continues, however, to serve as a great addition to any shapewear wearer’s wardrobe. (more…)

By Adam Welsch
Cupid Intimates

It’s been more than six months since we posted our first IQ test. Since then, a lot of new, interesting facts about bras, panties, and shapewear have been discussed in these pages.  How many of them do you remember?  Do you want to find out?  Here’s our second test to measure your knowledge of these intimate fashion categories. Use the answer key at the end of the test to score yourself and determine your intimates quotient (IQ). (more…)

By Adam Welsch
Cupid Intimates

For women interested in wearing undergarments to smooth or transform their bodies, modern shapewear offers a relatively inexpensive, comfortable means to do so.  Made with flexible fabrics that conform to the wearer’s body, it’s lightweight and easy to put on and take off.  But modern shapewear and traditional girdles owe their existence to the foundation of foundations – the corset.  Though long supplanted as the everyday undergarment of choice, corsets continue to be worn by women all over the world for a variety of reasons.  But because their numbers are relatively small, they remain somewhat mysterious. (more…)