Women have been torturing their bodies for years.  Remember Mammy tightening Scarlett O’Hara’s corset in Gone With The Wind?  No wonder those ladies were fainting all the time!  A 20” waist meant you were ready for pasture!  A wallflower with smelling salts!  Fun !

When women started burning their bras in the 60’s, they began to experience freedom from suffocation.  Our everyday dressing didn’t include the body-suit girdle, whose dual-purpose was to hold up the silk stockings.  Garter belts also fell by the wayside when the “convenient pantyhose” was introduced. Frederick’s of Hollywood will always be in business with garter belts and the like, but their garments are more for recreation than function.  But, ahem, that’s a different topic altogether ………which maybe I’ll cover at a later date!

So gals ran around with boobs and other parts swinging and jiggling.  This may have been liberating for a while, but it was not practical or attractive.  They seemed to have forgotten that gravity takes over as we age. Most people prefer not to go under the knife or endure liposuction.  We have good intentions for hours at the gym, but we don’t always fit it into our hectic schedules. Foremost, let’s face the truth: in every structure you benefit from a good foundation.  Clothes look and feel better with a good foundation.  Not only did the “foundation garments” allow our clothing to fit and look better, it gave us support.  I had back issues and once wore a special “back corset” for medical reasons and believe me, it helped!  We should have paid more attention to our mothers and grandmothers, instead of running around half-naked, parts swinging in the breeze and slouching with poor posture because we were high on life, or something…

Okay, advance 20+ years.  We’ve come to our senses and we have more choices.  Technology has brought us super fabrics in both undergarments and athletic clothing.  In 1998, a smart gal, Sara Blakely, cut off the bottom of her pantyhose to wear with cream-colored pants.  That year she was awarded a patent and Spanx was started.  Thank god!  Kudos to Sara for bringing us back to reality with the whole foundation dilemma with comfort, hi-tech fabrics and beauty!  Her timing was impeccable for the baby boomers!

Enough about women, our guys need help too.  While Seinfeld had us laughing for weeks with Kramer and George and the manseir, I think it hit closer to home than we wanted to admit.  Why shouldn’t men have the same benefits for looks and support?  Check out Equmen Core Precision for “high performance”  undershirts.  Underwear maker 2(x)ist just introduced its new “Form” collection.  Click on the links and happy shopping!  Your body will thank you for it. Also, your family; co-workers; neighbors; friends; wife; girlfriend…  Just kidding!

(Also, admittedly, this was a really tough research for me.  You’ll see what I’m talking about when you click the sites. Eye candy! It was rough but somebody had to do it!)

 

 

 

 

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