Information On Shapewear

The lingerie industry is surprisingly innovative, and evolves constantly in response to the various improvements made in the textiles industry. Lingerie has changed dramatically since the 1960s, embracing modern technology to create sleek, sexy and supportive designs, and perhaps the most groundbreaking lingerie to come through in recent years is shapewear.

Shapewear is a range of underwear that physically shapes the body to smooth out bulges and create attractive lines under clothes, and is the modern equivalent of corsets and girdles. Shapewear is based on seamless, strong fabrics such as stretchy nylon, which hug the body tightly once fitted, creating a smoother silhouette. Shapewear has been designed for use on the thighs, stomach and buttocks, and also includes moisture-wicking fabric to keep you cool and comfortable.

Shapewear can also take the form of modern corsets, designed to enhance and flatter the curves and shapes of your stomach and hips. Modern corsets are beautifully made, and can also be worn outside your clothes as the top part of a dress, or over a shirt to give a racy look to normal office wear. Quality modern corsets are made from steel boning, which is both supple and strong and can be made to fit exactly so they are comfortable as well as incredibly supportive and shaping. The luxurious materials such as silks, brocades, jacquards and satins used for corsets make them a very special kind of shapewear, and a lot sexier than the stretchy nylon versions.

A nice website for modern corsets is Playgirllondon.co.uk, which has a fantastic range of both overbust and underbust corsets, in modern and sexy designs. Corsets start at around £80 from Playgirl London, and there is a helpful sizing and fitting guide to help you select the right corset. There are two main types of modern corsets available on this website, which give you different effects:

• Dita Corset – this corset is longer in body and is used to shape both the stomach and the hip area, preventing unsightly bulges. It is higher on the bust than other corsets, creating a sexy yet not too revealing décolleté, and creates an overall flattering and curvy shape.
• Ella Corset – this is corset shorter in the body, and concentrates on creating a ‘nipped in’, trim waste shape. It is higher on the hips and lower on the bust making it a very sexy and revealing corset.