Spanx: Get Your Butt in Gear

From the BeansTalk Confessional…. We were VPL offenders (that's visible panty line for those not in the know). For years we have been suffering from the same undergarment dilemma Sara Blakely complained of before creating her revolutionary Spanx garment line. The VPL fashion faux paus was one we had just resigned ourselves to as a concession to approaching middle age and a resistance to thongs and girdles. Until now! We recently spent the day trotting around the BeansTalk offices with our new Spanx Hip-notic Low Rise Footless Pantyhose underneath a chic pair of Gavin pants, and not only felt slim, smooth, and jiggle-free, but a tad warmer in the too-cold air conditioning! ($26.00; Colors – nude, cocoa,black) The fit was terrific, the low-profile much appreciated as we only wear low-rise slacks these days…., and the seams and bands were totally invisible and non-distracting from the fit of the pant. We will never cut the feet (or waistband!) off our panty hose again.

If you are new to the Spanx world, the staple of your lingerie drawer should be the Power Panties. ($25.00; Colors – bare, black, cocoa) These little numbers are touted as, “The world's first performance underwear combin(ing) the comfort of regular underwear, the feel of hosiery and the power of a shaper,” by US Weekly. Oprah, Megan Mullally, and Ellen (talk-show host triumvirate) aren’t the only celebs who swear by them. Teri Polo, formerly of The West Wing recently said, "As an aspiring first lady, I never stepped foot on the set without my Power Panties. I wore them on every episode."

Here at BeansTalk, we maintain an air of reluctance to give away any lingerie secrets that may keep those of the saltier gender intrigued, but we couldn’t resist reporting on the Spanx Slim Cognito Seamless Mid-Thigh Bodysuit. ($68.00; Colors – nude, black) At the recent Emmy’s Mariska Hargitay wowed the crowd with her postnatal form filling out her Carolina Herrera gown. Hargitay pulled it off by wearing the shaper underneath. Besides minimizing problem areas, the bodysuit, engineered with straps to attach to your bra, actually lifts and separates the derriere! That right’s, ladies, the folks at Spanx have introduced “The Great Divide” to help the booty-challenged segment of the population avoid the flat uni-butt as well as avoid the plastic surgeon for the butt implants. Other West Wing-ers who go Slim-Cognito include Alison Janney. Story continued below