Spanx for the Holidays

Many of us think of the holidays as the giving season. I think of it as the stalking season. That’s because I have been relentlessly followed online by advertisements for shapewear. The emails have poured in, and every sales site I frequent — Zulily, MyHabit, Ideel — has touted their wonders.

At this time of year, there are ads for everything, but this clothing category seems particularly egregious. Is it my imagination, or is my inbox trying to tell me something? Something like, “Hey, Lardo! The DVF wrap dress that looked so sleek last year? Now it makes you look like Divine. But don’t worry. We’re here to help.”

While the people at Spanx won’t say when their sales peak, they do confess to making a special push for “holiday dressing” — which often means form-fitting, pricier clothes. And that means that the love-hate relationship many women have with their “sculpting” undergarments is particularly fraught this time of year.

For year-round wearers, holidays are simply business as usual.

“How can you even be asking me this question?” shouted Jennifer Lupo, a New York lawyer who is to Rago Shapewear what Anna Wintour is to sunglasses. “No woman should ever leave the house without Lycra on her thighs. I don’t want to see my own cellulite, so why would I want to see yours?”

Aviva Drescher, a former “Housewife” of New York, shared her best shapewear tip. “The secret to Spanx is double Spanx,” she said. “You have to wear two at a time for serious sucking-in.”

For some, the uses of these undergarments surpass the simple compression of flesh. “They were great, one, when I fell and broke two ribs, and, two, when I had my spleen removed,” said Lynn Weddington Tucker, a retired public relations consultant in New York.