God, the right underwear really DOES make a difference, doesn't it?

[BarfaStewart]

I've bought this to wear for a wedding just before Xmas. It was a last minute bid and I won it for under £4 delivered. Afterwards I looked properly at the pictures and meh-ed, but figured it can go in my wardrobe, if I don't wear it I can always sell on.

Anyway, it arrived this morning and I tried it on with my normal undies (bog standard tshirt bra and shorts) and it looked all wrong. Not terribly flettering, tbh. So, I've just tried it again with some shapewear and a boob-boosting bra and it looks like a different dress. I'm a size 8, so have never bothered with suck-you-iners, but my word, it made me look like I have a defined waist!

I must be the last person in the world to wake up to this

It took me a while to realise this too Barfa.
I use mine from time to time to help make some lumps and bumps less prominent.

Where would you recommend to buy shape wear?

Yikes. Mine personally is several years old. I think it may have been M&S??

I'm off to buy Spanx or similar tomorrow to help me get away with wearing a clingy little number that I used to wear pre-children. So would really love some recommendations!

bump

Mines from M+S, its a cross between a slip and a girdle, about as sexy as david jasons nasal hair, but it makes me all christina hendricks.

I'm gobsmacked by the difference!

I really like that dress, how quick was it delivered? What's the material like and how long is it on you?

Sorry for all the questions, it just seems a bargain and I love the colour, I might buy one

I bought it on Monday night, and it arrived this morning. There are a fair few from other sellers too. It's just below the knee on me (I'm 5'1") and it's a sort of stretchy, sheeny material. It's really lovely on, I just showed it DH and he approved wholeheartedly

Thank you, I'm definitely going to get one then. We are the same size and height (well I'm an inch taller )... think I'll invest in some shape wear too.

You should! I'm wearing mine with v high patent black heels, black patent bag and a 3/4 sleeve 50s style jacket. I've left feedback saying that the photo doesn't do it justice.

Some sellers have it in red, but thought that red might be a bit cliched for an xmas wedding.

Hope this works, its not a great pic, sorry.

wow! That loooks fab!

Thank you

Less than four quid!!

Gorgeous!

Thank you, I really wanted to look good for this wedding.

Lovely dress! Can I ask how snug the arms are on it? I have a wedding to go to in two weeks time and it looks perfect for such an occasion. I struggle with sleeves though as in spite of being a size 8 I have beefy arms (don't I sound like a catch) and find lots of things too tight on them. Are they very snug?

Thank you!

They aren't too tight at all, I have quite large arms, thanks to years of waitressing, and they are fine on them.

You look awesome, you really do. I love that colour. I think people think spanx etc make you thinner and in my experience they don't... Instead they just smooth out all those lumps and bumps. But they're great! I love my hideously unsexy shape wear!

Thank you - I might have to take a punt on it! It's such a lovely colour!

Re shapewear reccs. You simply can't go wrong with spanx although they are so so expensive. On a tighter budget M&S are reliably good. My danger zones are tummy and hips. I tend to buy either very high waisted cycling shorts shapewear, or high waisted control pants that with an attached miniskirt. I much prefer those as the pants on their own tend to show a visible line between the leg and the torso, which might as well shout "look at me in my Bridget jones pants". And they look quite nice on their own, like a slip.

For special occasions I also have a unitard type thing which is like high waisted cycling shorts with shoulder straps and a cut out bit for my own bra. I look like a wrestler with my dress off! But with it on... Tres chic.

I am sure you can get good stuff from TK Maxx but the stuff I have bought (nancy ganz) was a total waste of money, fatty blobby bits all over the place, awful.

thank you so much I agree about the thinner thing. I've avoided them for years. Because I'm already quite slim and suffer from EDs, when I lose weight people start head-tilting and pestering me. But this girdle thing doesn't make me look thinner at all, just better proportioned.

Hotel, do!! It's one of those dresses that makes you feel all slinky and sexy.

I use the M&S no VPL pants under mine. They are brill.

this is similar to mine but in nude

this is it

I mostly buy shape wear from TK Maxx - they sometimes have Spanx for a fraction of the price. But I do shell out for the right bra as that makes a massive difference too. My body looks fabulous in the right underwear - if only I'd known when I was young...I could have been a goddess

You look great in that dress!