As the name suggests, shapewear is employed by women who wish to slim their waistline in a healthy and non-intrusive fashion. These rather conspicuous implements are designed to provide support for the bust with the help of a slim vest or bodysuit while also helping with the posture. Some even go as far as providing a push-up effect if they are properly fitted, although you shouldn’t expect all shapewear to provide such benefits for practical reasons.

Shapewear works by compressing your excess fat around the stomach area so as to give the appearance that you have a much slimmer waistline. Bear in mind, however, that no matter how good a
shapewear implement can be, it cannot work miracles unless you combine it with a healthy lifestyle and a general desire to get thinner. Now, we should point out that shapewear comes in a wide range of styles and fabrics, which means that you will have to figure out which one works best yourself. To help you through, we put together a list of the ten best body shapewear the market has to offer.

Best Shapewear – Reviews

10Arabella Women’s Seamless Smoothing Shapewear

The Arabella Women’s Seamless Smoothing Shapewear is a reliable and useful piece of attire made with a blend of 86% nylon and 14% spandex. Equipped with a hi-waist and seamless construction, it helps provide optimum tummy control and firmness without causing any discomfort in the process. Along with this, it also offers a high level of compression that is lightweight and comfortable but also extremely supportive. This shapewear also features a contoured waistline that gives your body the smooth, hourglass shape you desire.

9Leonisa Women’s Smooth Tummy Control Panty Shaper

Known for its premium quality, design, and performance, this Tummy Control Panty Shaper from Leonisa is a high-end product that is widely popular worldwide. Featuring the latest DuraFit fabric it offers full coverage and smoothens out your tummy area, hip, and waist area, giving you the sleek slim look you want. For optimum control and firmness, it also features a high-quality PowerSlim fabric that aims at keeping you cool and comfortable as well. Providing you with added comfort, it also features smooth elastic bands on the edges of the leg openings and the waistband.

8Hanes Light Control Tummy Panel Printed Brief

Delivering medium to light control of fat and bulges around the tummy area, this printed brief from Hanes comes in a pack of two and a variety of subtle colors to choose from. Made with a unique blend of high-quality nylon and spandex, it stretches with ease and offers a snug and comfortable fit, while reducing bulges and shaping your hips. Featuring a cotton lining that offers optimum breathability, it provides full coverage of the tummy area and is ultra-durable and reliable by most standards. This also serves as a useful implement for shaping the way you walk on a daily basis.

7Yummie Women’s Nina Seamlessly Everyday Shaping Shortie

This particular body shapewear is without a doubt one of the slimmest and lightest body slimming product out there, one that is more or less ideal for everyday use. Made with 88% nylon and 12% spandex, this shapewear is 40% lighter than any other of its kind. Featuring level 2 compression standards, it is extremely comfortable and ideal for wearing under dresses, skirts, pants, blouses and more. Thanks to its premium quality, seamless design, and construction, it helps in minimizing the visibility of panty lines, giving you a smooth look from an aesthetic point of view.

6Miraclesuit Back Magic Extra High-Waist Thigh Slimmer

Made from premium quality nylon, cotton, and spandex, this High-Waist Thigh Slimmer from Miraclesuit provides superior control and firmness with an additional back magic feature. Thanks to the latest Wonderful Edge silicone used in its making, it stays in position throughout the day with no issues to speak of. Owing to its high-quality fabric blend and laser-cut edging, it hides all visible panty lines. Equipped with elastic microfibers and a gusset made from cotton, this slimming shapewear helps in reducing bulges, preventing muffin tops and controlling fat on the back and the sides, leaving you with a beautifully shaped body.

5Maidenform Flexees Women’s Shapewear

Thanks to its unique blend of 80% polyamide and 20% elastane, the Maidenform Flexees Women’s Shapewear features a low-friction surface and texture that allows your garments to glide on effortlessly. Featuring a stylish front panel made with soft satin material, it comes designed with a hi-waist construction that helps smoothen out your tummy area, thigh area, and waistline. Equipped with mesh accents, it offers optimum breathability and looks lightweight and sensual. Then again, these are the exact features one should look for in any type of shapewear. This is also why most of the good ones are made from comfortable yet highly reliable fabrics that stretch without being too restrictive.

4Bali Women’s Shapewear Tummy Panel Brief

The Bali Women’s Shapewear Tummy Panel Brief is a targeting shaping system that smoothens out and shapes your body giving you the sleek look you desire. Made with lightweight elastic microfiber and 100% nylon, it offers a comfortable and firm control with complete coverage of the back area that also does not ride up. Featuring a 2-ply panel with a reinforced front panel, it helps slim out the tummy area. Thanks to its specially sewn-on elastic that goes along the edges of the leg openings and the waist, it provides a comfortable and snug fit.

3Maidenform Sleek Smoothers WYOB Body Briefer Shapewear

Crafted with 68% nylon and 32% elastic, this high-quality body briefer shapewear from Maidenform provides an all-over smoothening that is both comfortable and practical. Featuring a heavy-duty hook and eye closure, it is perfect for wearing with your own bra, under dresses, skirts, trousers, jeans, form-fitting tops, and blouses. Thanks to its sleek and firm leg construction that is free from elastic or any other restrictive elements, it is completely invisible and does not show under your clothes. Available in black and Paris nude, this shapewear brief is your one-stop solution to your top, tummy, and bottom bulkiness.

2Bali Women’s Hi-Waist Thigh Slimmer Shapewear

Available in either black or nude, the Bali Women’s Hi-Waist Thigh Slimmer Shapewear is a premium quality apparel crafted to keep you cool and comfortable. With a body blended with 61% nylon and 39% spandex, the crotch area is lined with 100% cotton and features a front lining that is made from 70% nylon and 30% spandex. Ideal for wearing under fitting dresses, skirts and trousers, this shapewear gives you the slim, sculpted look you want. Thanks to its ultra-firm control, it helps eliminate bulges and bumps and smoothens out your waist and thigh area for a more reasonable fit.

1Bali Women’s Shapewear Lace ‘N Smooth Body Briefer

Crafted with a beautiful lace body, the Bali Women’s Shapewear Lace ‘N Smooth Body Briefer is made with a unique blend of 72% nylon and 28% spandex. Featuring seamless cups that are lined with soft, flexible fabric, it offers near-perfect support and coverage. Thanks to its lace body, it allows optimum breathability and is extremely comfortable to wear under any kind of clothing. Available in black, rosewood, and white, this stylish body briefer will not only shape and smoothen your body but will also help with your all-around confidence. Overall, it is one of the most exquisite pieces of shapewear out there.

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Shapewear Buying Guide

A lot can be said about choosing the right shapewear because getting the right model isn’t as easy as some people would imagine. We say this because first of all, some women make the mistake of choosing shapewear that is way beneath their size, which can cause quite a bit of discomfort over time, not to mention the bulges and the potential health issues that might come along. Instead, the best thing to do is to choose a medium constriction to smooth lines or a strong construction for a total figure transformation depending on what you personally need shapewear for. Before that, however, you should first be aware of the many types of shapewear and what particularities each one has.

Types of Shapewear

  • Slip – With slip shapewear, you get to achieve a more sculpted silhouette. This way, you gain quite a range of control levels along with the capability to fit them under any exquisite piece of clothing you might have reservations about. The main purpose of slip shapewear is to streamline your figure so as to give the impression that you possess an hourglass figure even when you don’t.
  • Camisole – A camisole shapewear is designed to slim your torso to quite a degree. Without posing any serious risks to your health, a camisole can not only streamline but smooth out your figure as well. For this reason, camisole implements are usually very hard to spot under most type of clothes. It is also why camisoles are rather popular with women who are simply fighting temporary weight gain.
  • Half Slip – The main purpose of a half slip is to render your bottom seemingly slimmer while smoothing out lumps and bumps at the same time. Many women prefer half slips not as stand-alone implements but for wearing under body con dresses or skirts of a wide variety. If worn under work clothes, it also gives the wearer a certain air of confidence as it also influences their walking over time.
  • Body Suit – As the name suggests, body suits are intended to provide full body coverage from your shoulders to your knees. The intention is for the suit to streamline without any sort of restrictions. For this purpose, these suits come without cups in order to give the wearer the freedom to choose their own bras. This way, you get to experience a perfect fit with few if any restricting issues to mention.
  • High Waist Brief – These shapewear models work by clinching in the waist while keeping hold of your tummy as best as possible. At the same time, they are also tasked with lifting the bottom to make your figure a bit more ‘feminine’ from an aesthetic point of view. Nothing short of cosmetic surgery can deliver such results, and not to mention how painless and non-invasive these type of shapewear usually are.
  • Thigh Slimmer – With a thigh slimmer, you get the benefit of smoothing out your derriere and thighs while allowing your waistline to change ever so slightly in the process. It is for this reason that many women who are trying their hand at a more healthy lifestyle also prefer thigh slimmers to help with the thinning process. What’s more, these thigh slimmers are also remarkably versatile in that you can fit them underneath any type of attire.

Control Level

  • Light Shapewear– As you would have guessed from the name, light shapewear focuses on tightening up your lumps on a superficial level. This type of control is recommended for women who don’t really need extra tightening, yet women who still want the benefits of decent shapewear. Furthermore, light shapewear is recommended for women who wish to experience the maximum amount of comfort that can be achieved when wearing such implements.
  • Firm Shapewear– With firm shapewear, you get a bit more control than you would with light models, but not enough to cause you any serious discomfort. This is by far the most popular type of control as it contains the best of both worlds. These shapewear pieces are usually designed to be fitted in specific areas so that they do not constrict the wearer’s movement in any way. In fact, these are the type of shapewear women who wear suits professionally seem to prefer.
  • Extra Firm Shapewear– These are the most restrictive shapewear pieces you can get, the type that will drastically alter your body shape when worn. For this reason, they can be a bit uncomfortable when worn for long periods of time. Seeing how they seriously alter and reshape your body when you wear them, you can expect them to take inches off your waistline in a pinch, even though they also cause quite a bit of discomfort in the process.