Clothes with built-in slimming power
New from Fila, Body Toning apparel, which hits the stores Oct. 15, not only sculpts, it supposedly makes your muscles work harder by way of multi-layered panels. Credit: Handout
OK, women, admit it. There are very few of us who have not wrestled with a pair of control top pantyhose in the name of creating a leaner silhouette. The good news is that some designers feel our pain, and have introduced a category of clothing - not undergarments - that does the trick.
Companies known for their figure-control undies have branched out into clothes meant to be seen. Spanx has swimwear and a great basic black dress with an inner panel that controls tummy, thighs and rear. Yummie Tummie has lots of tummy-trimming tanks and camisoles, including a lovely tiered chiffon tank you'd never guess was a control garment.
But recently, there have been some new entries in the market. Here are three that look promising.
Smooth it all out
About nine months ago, the legging brand Lissé was born. Beth Gold-Cohen, 56, a former buyer for Macy's from Roslyn, designed them to camouflage her weight gain after battling breast cancer. In her search for something that flattered, she slashed off the upper portion of a pair of control-top pantyhose and sewed it onto a pair of leggings. "It was a perfect fit and looked smooth," she says (hence the name Lissé, which means "smooth" in French). The product is made of four-way stretch fabric and comes in eight styles and four colors.
ROAD TEST
Lissé turns you into a lean machine, and the tight-ankle legging and right-on-trend cargos are both great with boots. Prices range from $52 for capri pants to $68 for velvet at Entrée Designer Boutique, Port Washington, Lester's, and barenecessities.com.
Tone that body
Fila's new Body Toning apparel, which hits the stores Friday, not only sculpts, it supposedly makes your muscles work harder by way of multilayered panels. Freya Tamayo, Fila USA's director of apparel design, says the garments combine the principles of shapewear and medical compression wear.
Kiya Knight, a fitness instructor who has tried the Fila pants, says that they made her feel like "I could jump higher, run faster, and stretch deeper." As for the body beautifying aspect? Knight likens the garments to a Wonder Bra-Spanx combo that conceals "every lump, bump and imperfection."
ROAD TEST
"Pants for every woman who has ever stopped to look at her butt in a mirror," is the line's slogan, and truth told, well, they do create the illusion of a beautiful booty. The line runs from $35 for shorts to $75 for long pants at Dick's Sporting Goods, Roosevelt Field, Paragon Sports, Manhattan, and fila.com.
Hello, Skinny
Hello! Skinny Jeans, by designer Catherine Hart, claim to make you look thinner. Classic denim with a high-power "memory" stretch (to prevent that annoying bagging at the end of the day), plus a series of features such as stitched pocket linings to help suck in the gut, clever slenderizing optical illusions - inseams drawn forward, strategically placed fading and pocket placements - all aid the slenderizing cause. These babies are pricey but, if you believe testimonials, well worth it. "OMG," one fan wrote to the company's website. "I just got my first pair and if there were a Nobel Prize for jeans . . . these would win." Need we say more?
ROAD TEST
Smart-looking, and the denim is turbo stretch. Not even a whiff of the mom-jean stigma, yet suck you in like nobody's business - wait till you see your legs! Prices go from $145-$190 at Ooh La Shoppe, Locust Valley, Nancy & Co., Manhattan, and skinnyjeans.com.
