These days, you might be hard-pressed to find someone who feels perfect in any of the shapewear that they own. That’s likely because, to a certain point, shapewear exists with the purpose of reshaping your body into something that it’s not. And of course, that might not be as sinister as it sounds. It’s just the way that we’ve done things, why we wear compression garments under our dresses. But pop superstar Lizzo and her brand “Yitty” are looking to change that.
Because, especially in the case of plus-size people, shapewear has been an inconvenience at best and, at worst, a constant reminder that appearance and thinness are more important than comfort.
But Yitty and many other modern shapewear brands are working to remove the idea that shapewear is about changing you. Instead, they want shapewear to work FOR us, not against us.
Yitty Shapewear and Loungewear
When Lizzo, a fervent supporter of body acceptance, revealed she was launching an underwear line called Yitty, many people were thrilled. It would be hoped a more body-inclusive business would have fantastic alternatives for people who struggle to find bras that genuinely support those with larger body types and underwear they feel comfortable wearing.
Those two words are key in this business model: “comfort” and “support”.
For people with larger chests or different body types, going without support can not only feel uncomfortable, it can be painful. That’s why shapewear from Yitty are marketed as “comfortable and supportive”. They are sold based on holding you up, rather than sucking you in.
And while that may seem like a small change, the change in vernacular means a lot to a lot of people.
Yitty Lizzo Shapewear Gives You the Choice of How You Feel and Look
On Yitty’s website, they proclaim that “You decide how you want to feel” when you’re buying shapewear. So almost more importantly than inclusivity, Lizzo has given her consumers power of choice. In the shapewear section, you’re able to filter your searches based on “Light Compression” to “High Compression”.
This range of choices not only gives consumers choice when it comes to support, but comfort as well. Previously, it seemed like shapewear was heralded based on just how flat and compressed it made you. Yitty offers light compression options so that curvy individuals who want to show off their bodies still have something to choose from.
On top of that, Yitty flipped the idea of shapewear being an “intimate” on its head, too. Yitty offers “compression styles” that are made to be seen. Just like Lizzo, Yitty has refused to be ashamed of something that makes you feel comfortable and attractive.
No more just “nude” shades that you have to layer under your clothes to look natural. You get the benefits of a supportive garment without worrying about lines or straps.
An Important Conversation about Marketing & Fashion
Yitty has an important place in the conversation about fashion and how certain garments are designed for certain people. Of course, Lizzo developed Yitty with the goal of meeting a demand that was not being catered to. She recognized this demand because she was living in it.
But Lizzo could’ve just made underwear in larger sizes and called it a day. Instead, she made sure to provide people who looked and were built like her options that didn’t focus on how close it made you look to the current beauty standard but on how it made you feel. More than that, she gave her consumers options, because not every person feels the same way.
Lizzo’s Yitty brand made sure that not only are larger sizes, not an afterthought but their feelings and preferences are at the forefront.
Can You Even Mention Shapewear without Bringing Up Names like Spanx and Skims
This, in itself, is an important question. Kim Kardashian founded Skims; a company that is now worth $5 billion. But the original shapewear queen is Sarah Blakely the CEO of Spanx. The company is now valued at $1.2 billion. Blakely founded Spanx in the 1990s when she was just 27 years old. It generated over $4 million in its first year alone.
But, shapewear has evolved as not just something that makes a woman feel good in her clothes but clothing that doesn’t hide her true shape.
That’s where Yitty has found it’s footing with, hopefully, a long life in the shapewear industry.