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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
GIRDLE for guys?
Compression underwear for men debuts at fashion fest
Amid rich industry buzz -- and no small measure of female schadenfreude -- Spanx just debuted their first-ever men's compression undergarments at New York Fashion Week.
Putting a different spin on male shrinkage, the new undershirts, like their vaunted feminine predecessors, are designed like virtual vacuum-packs for the physique, constricting the midriff into a shape less evocative of a tube sock filled with gravy.
"It's not a man-girdle or anything too scary for the guys," says Maggie Adams, spokeswoman for Spanx. "The idea is that it's an undershirt with benefits -- eliminating love handles, flattening the stomach, trimming the waistline and helping men feel better in their clothes."
At least half a dozen brands have introduced men's shape-wear over the last year or so, with most marketed as highly technical performance garments. The Ript Fusion "torso-enhancing undershirt," for example, is described as being "injected with steroids," whereas the Equmen Core Precision undershirt is said to boast "helix-mapping technology."
The idea, at its most idealistic, is to make wearing foundation garments sound as manly as changing a tire -- or, in this case, getting rid of a spare.
"Our planning manager literally had to take his belt in a notch after he put (the Equmen shirt) on," says Lanita Layton, vice-president of menswear for Holt Renfrew, where the Equmen undergarments' strong sales recently prompted a nationwide rollout.
"It's about finding the right thing for men, not just trying to copy something made for women."
Some observers, however, worry the fact these gut-busters are catching on is indicative of men finding it more difficult to sidestep the body-image trap.
"Some of the same things women have been complaining about for years, men are starting to feel, too," says Michael Kaufman, a gender equality educator from Toronto. "Deep down, there's a sense of not living up to expectations."
-- Canwest News Service
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 21, 2010 A20
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