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Raise your hand if you hold it in
March 25, 2008 by valmg
Filed under Health, Life & news, This and That
At work this morning we heard a news piece on the radio where the announcer claimed that a number of men surveyed wore girdles. I remember girdles from when I was a teenager. I didn’t need one then but they were still popular. I did wear one a couple of years later, for my wedding, and it was terribly uncomfortable and actually hurt to wear. I never knew men wore them also. With many people being appearance conscious, and more and more people being overweight I found myself wondering if with time these garments have become any more comfortable. I could definitely stand to lose some weight and finally after more than two months have gotten the exercise bike back into its spot. So I ask you, my readers, to answer this question about your stomach. Do you hold it in and if so, how? Do you wear a girdle, corset, body shaper or something similar? Is it uncomfortable? Or are you in good shape?
I am in reasonably good shape, but I don’t wear a skirt or a dress, even casual ones, without Spanx. Spanx, truth be told, are girdles. Like most women, I do have some experience with “real” girdles for certain special dress-up occasions and while I was glad to wear them when I have worn them, I wouldn’t want to wear a real girdle every day. But I find Spanx tolerable. They smooth me and make my clothes fit beautifully. They give me more confidence with figure revealing clothes. Yes they are tight, and hard to wiggle into, and it is a relief to take them off at the end of a long day. But I think they are fine considering their advantages. I did wear a real corset once, when I was in a play set in the 19th century. I was laced up pretty tightly, but I loved wearing the 19th century dresses I had to wear. I’m glad I had the experience, but I am also glad I don’t have to wear a corset every day, as women did back then. Spanx under a skirt is just as much constriction as this modern woman can handle.
I wonder what the point is for those men. To pick up chicks? If she likes your flat tummy, but you have a beer gut naked, it’s not going to work out.
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Tina - Thanks for stopping by. I wondered that myself, it’s part of why I was hoping people would comment and say.
Debra - Thanks for visiting. I have heard great stuff about Spanx and saw them on Oprah as well. I’m glad to hear a real person confirm what they said.
I don’t like the guys in girdles idea either. I’m open-minded about almost anything, but it bothers me. When it comes to romance, I like gender difference. I want to be the only one in a couple who wears a girdle just as I want to be the only one who wears a skirt. I’d like him to look nice by doing a guy thing, like wearing a tie or a jacket, but I want him to leave the girly things to me. Besides, we females are tougher. I can spend a day in a pair of Higher Power Spanx, without complaining and without losing my smile. I don’t think any guy could do the same
I usually will wear a body shaper. I would LOVE to own some Spanx, but can’t afford them…so I get a brand that WalMart sells, and it’s pretty decent. It helps my jeans fit better, tucks in the paunch (damned babies, anyway!) and makes a prettier form. But I don’t wear it on an every day basis (like my mom used to!)….it is too much of a hassle, that’s for sure.
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I find it hard to believe that men would ever wear girdles. I certainly wouldn’t like the idea of my boyfriend wearing one!
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Linda, Recently I’ve discovered that Target sells a discount version of Spanx, made by the Spanx company and called Assets, believe it or not. I find them to be just as good as Spanx, not quite as silky smooth, but just as controlling and just as reasonably comfortable. They are much cheaper. And yes, my mom used to wear girdles on a daily basis too. I never thought I would, but I am and I am only 30 and reasonably slim. The problem with girdles was never that they didn’t make you look better, it was that they were an ordeal to wear all day long and day in and day out. My Spanx and Assets are not an ordeal. I can understand, though, why a lot of women don’t want to wear them every day. But the genius of the Spanx lady is that she found exactly the trade-off many women are willing to make. For this amount of control, for this improvement in the way I look, I am willing to trade exactly this amount of comfort on a daily basis.
I can understand wearing one for a wedding, but to wear one everyday!!!!! Ouch!
My wife used to wear one when she wants to wear one of her dresses but you’ll never see me wearing one and you’ll never get me into one either.
Debra - I can’t do heels anymore.
Adam - Exactly. Wearing a girdle every day is just too much. But if I’ve read what Debra wrote correctly, the Spanx or Assets would give the benefits yet be more comfy.
wow! that’s funny men wearing girdles. I remember wearing one right after giving birth but that’s about it, they’re so uncomfy.
By the way, I found your site from a tag from a friend
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Adam and Melo, From a female standpoint, they’re not that bad. I think that heels are more uncomfortable and I’ve worn jeans that were more uncomfortable. Yes, it is a slight trade-off of physical comfort (I’m particularly glad to get out of the hi-waisted kind at the end of a day), but you gain a lot of mental comfort because you look so good in your clothes. Men don’t care as much about this, so that the mental comfort of looking good would not, for them, compensate for the sacrifice of some physical comfort in wearing a “girdle.”
valmg, Yes, wearing an actual girdle every day would be too much even for me
I have worn them and they’re great things for special occasions, but if you have a firm control panty girdle on for 18 hours as I did this fall for a formal wedding, you are very glad to get out of it. Trust me. Spanx and Assets are different. They shape and smooth you, but the material they’re made from is more giving than the material of true girdles. They’re tight but they don’t squeeze or constrict you. You know you have them on, but it is not really an ordeal to wear one all day. I’ll admit that they’re not perfectly comfy, but they’re certainly more comfy.
I am just getting home from a week long conference. Every day this week I squeezed into a very firm girdle. My job requires a lot of public exposure and you are judged in at least some capacity by how you look. I have to compete with young women so I Literally drove myself nuts squeezing into that girdle every day. After having three kids I truly needed it to present the figure I wanted the world to see but by about 2pm every day the thing drove me insane! It must have been the tightness but it itched and on a very public display floor in that thing and heels I couldn’t scratch I wanted to rip it off and it was on my mind all the time like some excruciating torture!
I read the comments about both males and females wearing a girdle. I found as a male as I became older I started getting a stomach, I found when I would wake up in the morning I would also have lower back pains, besides not being able to fit into my clothes. I did some research and found that wearing a long legged high waisted zippered boned firm panty girdle should help solve my problem. I found various opinions that wearing a girdle can be either very uncomfortable, or you can get to point where you do not feel dressed unless you are in a girdle. After some serious research into girdles both makes models etc I decided to be fitted by a corsetier who would not just fit me properly but teach me how to get use to being in the type of girdle I needed. This I found was a smart choice there is lots to learn about wearing a girdle, besides makes and models there is also proper sizing to get a proper fit, there is also learning how to put a girdle on, and interesting enough I also had to learn to relax my stomach muscles and let the girdle just hold me in. I found also that wearing a girdle has both a physilogical as well as a psychogical effect - wearing a girdle has to become a daily habit. The good news is once I became use to being held in I found my confidence level zoomed, my posture was great, it was much easier to sit walk and get around, by clothes fit 100 times better, besides I was much more confidence I felt much more relaxed. I also noticed over a period of time that wearing a girdle everyday became just part of my daily routine and now I also understand what it feels like - I really do not feel dressed unless I am in a girdle daily. I also found that I actually have become uncomfotable not being girdled, I am amazed and that this has happen, but I have never felt better. My recommendation is if you are uncomfortable in a girdle go to a professional corsetier with years of experience have her fit you and consult you you really will be the better for it.