Damn right she is.

Wow. Never head of this before.

Oh yeah, I read about her in the New Yorker a few years ago. I have to hand it to her - she reinvented the girdle for the modern era. And you might think you don't know anyone who is wearing them, but you do.

Here's the New Yorker piece. Sort of a wacky person, but this is certainly cool:

she has so far donated around ten million dollars to women’s causes, a million to Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy alone.

She deserves it. Spanx rock. And it feels great when you finally get home and take them OFF.

I love Spanx too. And she seems like a very interesting person.

My entire perception of Star Trek: TNG changed when I found out they all had to wear Spanx and false muscles to make sure the uniforms had clean, crisp lines.

Thus, any out of character, wtf decision can be credited to everyone on deck being compressed into SPACE GIRDLES

Wow - good for her! and not a nickel in advertising. I had never heard of Spanx until this thread. :)

hell yeah, what Miko said: you think you don't know anyone wearing them, but you do. I was modeling wedding dresses for my cousins & sister, and I came out in one and said sort of off-hand "But I didn't put on the Spanx, so you can't really tell how it looks." and the one cousin was dismissive: "You totally don't need Spanx. Whatever." but my sister insisted I put on the Spanx and come out again and boy howdy, what a difference.

There's an ask.me (I think) thread where a TV costumer talks about how the "good" or "rich" girls all wear lots of carefully fitted undergarments and the Spanx, but the "bad" or "poor" girls just get bras. Nothing in the world ups the ante on your appearance like seamless shapewear.

What would a "Starter Spankx" set include? If you were new to the world of foundation garments, what would you recommend? There's lots of options out there.

I applaud her,but I refuse to wear them. I will run a zillion treadmill miles before I put on anything constricting. Now that I'm married, that is. I admit to wearing horrible but effective body shaping undergarments on my wedding day.

SPACE GIRDLES

I can't stop giggling.

I can't afford spanx, but I have worn the old lady tummy control underwear and it makes pants so much easier to get on. It's not so much a size thing as a floppy foldy thing.

If you were new to the world of foundation garments, what would you recommend? There's lots of options out there.

It totally depends on your body type, since they make them in a bunch of configurations to control various areas, and also what kinds of clothes you wear - like, trousers, or sweater dresses, or knits or what have you. I suggest going to your nearest Marshalls if you have them, because they usually have a bunch of discounted ones that give you some idea what you might like to have.

Bearwife, I totally agree, though I ended up with an A-line wedding dress with a corset back and I figured the dress had enough support on its own. The only time I've worn shapewear was for my engagement photos, and I hated it so much that I'll never wear it again. (But I will also never wear dresses that *require* it, either.)

I just bought my first pair (set?) last week. Although they're not Spanx brand, so I've been calling them my Sponks. I got the open-bust bodysuit ones and love them. Except the part where you can't really take this style off to pee. There's a hole for that, but I was so scared that I was going to pee on myself. I didn't, and people complimented me all night, so I guess they worked out well.

I will run a zillion treadmill miles before I put on anything constricting
No thanks. Sign me up for space girdles.