Lawsuit Claims “Slimming” Shapewear Made False Promises

Ya think? Now, I’m not sure two women a class action lawsuit makes, but I’m sure more women will be signing on for this lawsuit. I have a problem with shapewear in general; I remember the days of girdles worn to hold up stockings (I was not a fan of garter belts) and how squished they made me feel. I was overjoyed when I found pantyhose, even though I usually had to buy them a couple of sizes bigger than what the sizing on the package claimed I would wear (they were NOT made for a woman with a 32″ inseam, not back then anyway, don’t know if things are different now).

In the suit, the women claim that Wacoal’s $60 iPant and Maidenform’s $38 Flexees Instant Slimmer products mislead customers by promising to “permanently change women’s body shape and skin tone.” Both products are made with a nylon microfiber fabric called Novarel Slim, produced by a Spanish company called Nurel. Bellot and Stefani say they paid up to 50 percent premiums for this type of shapewear and were led on by false advertising. The iPant, for example claims it will “reshape your lower body in 28 days with lasting results,” according to the lawsuit, by releasing “ingredients into your skin while you move” including Vitamin E to prevent the effects of aging and caffeine to reduce the appearance of cellulite.

I have a lot of concerns about shapewear: the health aspects of them (Why Shapewear, Skinny Jeans, and Stilettos Will Be Our Demise), the fact that they don’t really make one look slimmer, and the fact that they’re advertised in a way that plays on our insecurities about our bodies — insecurities fanned by the fashion industry. My other problem with them is that even though they’re advertised to make you “look slimmer,” they only come in sizes to fit in-betweenies.

I’ve been looking for a garment that is knee-length, not because I want to look slimmer (nothing is going to make that happen), but because the compression offered would help with the swelling from my venous insufficiency (used to be just my lower legs that swelled, now my thighs are swelling). I thought a shapewear garment that went from waist to knee would be a good (and cheaper) alternative to having my doctor order a custom-made compression undergarment. I had custom-made compression stockings made for me 15 years ago and they were $125 a pair — imagine how much an undergarment like that would cost. But search as I might, short of having something custom-made, there is nothing out there for a woman my size.

As for shapewear made from fabric infused with vitamin E and caffeine working to make cellulite disappear and make one permanently thinner? Yeah, I don’t think so. How many ads for cellulite-removal creams have we seen? How many articles have we read debunking the claims that these creams work? If the creams don’t work, why on earth would anyone think that a garment infused with those ingredients would work? Hell, diets don’t even work for the majority of people, not to make them permanently thin anyway, so why would a garment have a better success rate?
Have we reached the point that we are so desperate to be thin, to fit in, that we’ll buy any hype for anything that is advertised to make us thinner?

“There are a lot of false claims about their weight loss products and we believe, as alleged in the complaint, that the Maidenform and Wacoal products are misrepresented,” Mathew Pawa, the attorney representing the two plaintiffs, told Yahoo Shine. “We’re doing this to change corporate behavior and avoid misleading claims in the marketplace.”

Well then, let’s bring on the class action lawsuits against Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, and every other diet plan out there, along with all the diet drugs and bariatric surgeons. Because every one of them make unsubstantiated, inferred claims that if you “just follow our plan, you’ll lose weight and get your life back.” More people have had those diets/drugs/surgeries fail them than have been successful at getting, and staying, thin.

What? You say that a class action lawsuit against all those entities would fail because every one of them can say that it’s your fault because you didn’t use the product correctly? Well, all righty then, want to bet that Wacoal and Maidenform will use the same strategy? Their garments didn’t perform as advertised because you didn’t wear them properly (whatever that means).

I’m not saying you shouldn’t use shapewear at all, ever. What I am saying is that if you decide shapewear is something you want to use, get the correct size (don’t try to squeeze into something a size or two smaller than your measurements just so you’ll “look thinner”), don’t wear it all day/every day, and for Maude’s sake, don’t believe the hype that it’s going to make you thinner, improve your skin tone, or any other outrageous claim that seems too good to be true. In other words, quit buying the lies that say you have to have this one type of body in order to be “accepted,” in order to be thought beautiful, worthwhile, and to have a life.