The Best Shapewear for Every Type of Dress & Occasion

The Best Shapewear for Wedding Dresses

Fact: Finding the best shapewear for wedding dresses is one of the secrets to not only looking amazing, but having a great time on your big day. Shapewear helps make your bridal dress and reception outfit as no-fuss and worry-free as possible. For all-in-one light control, shapewear slips give you a smooth, toned look; choose from half- or full-slip options. If you’ve fallen in love with an hourglass-style, mermaid-inspired dress, thigh shapers will give you a sleek leg line and let you show off your dance moves. While you’re trying new looks for your hair and makeup, you can do that with your silhouette, too—check out our waist cinchers and corsets. No matter what your wedding look, we’ve got the shapewear that will let you walk glamorously and confidently down the aisle.

Stylist’s Trick: When putting on thigh shapers, roll them up slowly, a little bit at a time, like tights. Then extend your legs, bend over and move around in any way that gives you the most comfortable fit. They should feel like a second skin, not constricting.

The Best Shapewear for Strapless Dresses

If you’re looking for the best shapewear for a strapless dress, you’ve already made the right decision: There’s no need to go without the support of a good bra, a strapless bodysuit or a sweet strapless slip for a smooth silhouette. In addition to giving you the support you want on top and the option of refining your tummy and thighs, too, strapless shapewear is—hello!—sexy in and of itself. It’s an added layer of glamour, with user-friendly benefits. Good choice, you!

Stylist’s Trick: To ensure that the top of your dress won’t slide below your bra or shapewear, apply small strips of double-sided tape to the front and sides of your bra. Put on the dress, and pinch bra and dress together where you’ve applied the tape. The dress will stay put. (If you’re doing a big reveal later, remember to remove the tape first!)

The Best Shapewear for Tight Dresses

The best shapewear for tight dresses makes you feel comfortable as well as sexy, and it makes that dress look like it was custom-made for you. When choosing shapewear for a skin-hugging outfit, start with what your dress calls for: Need some barely-there underwear? Shapewear thongs give you a panty-line free look, and you can get that with a side order of tummy control and waist smoothing, if you want. Looking for leg coverage? Our shaping hosiery collection lets you choose from sheer to opaque, with options to smooth your thighs, tuck your tummy or make the best of your booty. The right shapewear for your dress takes you from too-tight to just right.

Stylist’s Trick: When choosing shapewear hosiery, measure your dress from waist to hemline to make sure it won’t show. We have a variety of styles that will work with any hemline. Have a question about exact sizes or measurements? Our Bra Fit Experts are ready to find the answer for you.

The Best Shapewear for Body-Con Dresses

If you’re wondering what to wear under a body-con dress, the answer is less complicated when you invite shapewear to the party. Body-conscious dresses are meant to cling lovingly to your figure; they do that best when shapewear, in whatever amount of control you want, makes the most of your natural lines and curves. Shapewear slips come in light to moderate control focused mostly on creating a smooth look; you can also get them with built-in bras. For more control, shapewear bodysuits are a classic design with updated advantages: They come in combinations of bra support, waist and tummy control as well as booty shaping. With the right shapewear, anyone can wear a body-con dress and feel confident.

Stylist’s Trick: When wearing a body-con dress, never underestimate the power of your rear view. Check to see which makes the most of your dress—shapewear to minimize and smooth your butt, or shapewear with booty enhancement for a little extra oomph. Different outfits may call for different shapewear that takes what you’ve got and dial it up.

The Best Shapewear for A-Line Dresses

A-line dresses are the ultimate figure-flatterers, especially when you get the right shapewear for the look. It may seem like you could wear anything underneath the flared skirt, but the fabric on the hip and thigh will drape best when worn over a pair of sleek thigh shapers. (Zero jiggle is an added bonus.) Next, waist cinchers enhance the cut of the dress, with strategically placed panels to create a classic hourglass silhouette, tuck in your tummy and do away with muffin top. You can even get all of this with a strapless bra for styles that call for it.

Stylist’s Trick: Remember Marilyn Monroe’s famous dress billowing up in the breeze? It happens. Shapewear in boyshort, brief, hipster and thigh-lengths, with mid- to full-butt coverage, won’t reveal too much.

Eager to make it even easier to put your shapewear on? Try rolling up your shapewear shorts before you step into it so that once you slide the shapewear up to your thighs, all you have to do is unroll so that it fits to your body instead of trying to shimmy your shapewear on bit by bit.

The Best Shapewear for Maxi Dresses

Maxi dresses are a gorgeous style for any figure, enhancing what you’ve got on top while making legs look a mile long. The best shapewear for maxi dresses can go two ways: Your first option is high waist panties. Our collection ranges in coverage from thongs to thigh-covering shorts. What they all have in common is a high-waist panel of control fabric that creates a seamless, waist-flattering silhouette your maxi dress will flow over effortlessly. Your second option is shaping hosiery. (No, you don’t have to wing it with last winter’s tights or your yoga leggings.) Shapewear hosiery creates the look of firm thighs, tummy and tush, and it comes in a variety of styles, from Capri to ankle to full tights or sheer pantyhose. Maxi-chic.

Stylist’s Trick: If your maxi dress has thigh-high slits, you don’t have to go without shapewear; just make it part of your look. Shapewear in a Capri leggings style adds a sporty look, while shapewear tights and pantyhose go with more formal and elegant outfits. Both will give you the support you want.

The Best Shapewear for Plunge & Low-Back Dresses

How low do you want to go? The best shapewear for strapless, plunge or low-back dresses says: as low as you want. The point of the perfect plunge dress is to let nothing interfere with that jaw-dropping neckline—no obvious underwear, nip slips or other wardrobe malfunctions need apply. For plunge dresses and backless dresses that require you go low and feel supported, try low-back bodysuits; these have deep- and deeper-plunge bras, in strap and strapless options. And going backless doesn’t mean you need to go braless. Our backless bras give you the sexy look of freedom with the confident feeling of full support.

Stylist’s Trick: Just because the focus is up top or in back doesn’t mean forgetting the rest. Go completely streamlined with shaping panties. High-waisted options give added tummy control, and you can choose from thong to brief to thigh-shaping coverage, depending on the shape of your dress’s skirt.

The Best Shapewear for Every Occasion

Most of the time, when you shop for shapewear, you start with a specific dress in mind. This helps to make sure you’re getting exactly what you need to accompany the outfit you have planned for a particular event, but doesn’t always lead to having a shapewear piece that’s particularly versatile. If you’d like to invest in shapewear pieces that you can pair with a ton of different styles and even wear on their own, you might want to start with some versatile shapewear basics that are perfect for more than just your special occasion dress.

Of which, there’s no better place to start shopping than with the Bare Smoothing Seamless Collection. Designed to be easy and effective, these are the best shapewear pieces for every occasion and can even be worn on their own. Take the Smoothing Seamless Dress for example. Sure, you can wear this smoothing control piece under a silky slip dress, but you can also pair it with some strappy sandals and wear it completely on its own! Both options mold to your body and hide any unwanted lumps or bumps. So get the most bang for your buck by wearing the shapewear pieces that you’ll keep grabbing over and over again.

Stylist’s Trick: Unlike any other type of clothing, no matter what shapewear style you’re planning to wear, the process of putting it on is always the same. With dry skin not freshly moisturized or straight out of the shower. Make sure all closures are fastened, step into your shapewear piece and gently pull it up to where it should rest on your body. Pulling your shapewear on from above could cause it to get stuck while going over your head or shoulders. Especially if the shapewear you’re wanting to wear has sticky silicone or hook and eye closures as these can get tangled in your hair.