Many of us are well aware of just how much shapewear like Spanx can change your body's appearance. But while some may love how shapewear makes them look, Olivia, an Instagram user who goes by @SelfLoveLiv, says that it made her realise that you don't need an item of clothing to feel great about your body.
In a side-by-side photo posted to Instagram last week, she explained that she bought a pair of control-top underwear last year, "hoping it would slim my figure and I could wear body con dresses."
However, she wrote, they were more uncomfortable than she had bargained for.
"Do you know how uncomfortable these things are ? breathing was not an option," she wrote. "I felt tight, uncomfortable and restricted in the first photo. The relief of taking them off was amazing!"
While shapewear is made to "give the illusion of a flatter stomach and smaller figure," she said, you don't need it — wear that body-con dress, sans Spanx.
"I feel totally fine in the second photo, and I can breathe again," she wrote. "You don't need an item of clothing in order to love yourself."
While there's nothing wrong with shapewear if you like it, Olivia's post is an important reminder that it isn't essential. As she said, "you don't need to wear a tight piece of material in order to wear a dress or top. WEAR IT ANYWAY."
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