Big decision

I'm thinking about buying a Spanx. I know what you're thinking: "OK, go out and get the damn thing". But here's my problem, if I buy a Spanx, which is a piece of "control wear" it will involve breaking a vow I made to myself about 48 years ago, to wit: " I will never, ever, ever wear a girdle of any kind.

See, I come from a generation whose mothers trussed themselves up in larval versions of Spandex on a regular basis. My mom only girdled up if it was a really special occasion, but I had friends whose moms got up and wrestled themselves into their Platex Tummy Control torture devices every morning. My best friend's mom, for instance.

When I was a kid, hugging was not the common practice it is now. Its not that people were cold, but usually a pat on the head was the reward for a job well done. Its a good thing, too, because my friend's mom wore a full girdle contraption every day. Bumping into her was like running into a wall. There was absolutely no give - at all. I can only imagine what a hug would have felt like. "Honey, how did you get that black eye?" "I hugged Mrs. Francis."

I just knew that running into an adult woman by accident or because I felt like they needed to be rammed into was an unpleasant experience. Not that I ever achieved ramming speed, but I had a first grade teacher who was a real pain in my patootie and once I often fantasized about running into her on the playground so she'd fall and skin her knee. I probably would have knocked myself silly on her undergarments.

Not only were women encased in girdles, but on TV there were dire warnings about "midriff bulge", which was a consequence of wearing a bra on top and a girdle on the bottom. The flab had nowhere to go, so it squirted out the middle like a wobbly donut, all the way around. Thus was invented the "long line" bra which met up with the top of the girdle. This created a kind of constricting jumpsuit. In hot, humid Houston, Texas for Pete's sake - its no wonder they didn't hug much.

In any case, once when I watched my mom wrestle her way out of a girdle, I said to myself "I will never, ever, ever put on one of those things. And I never have - not even control top panty hose. Not even when I was fat! But now I lost the flab and I bought a dress. One of those dresses that really emphasizes the hour glass shape of my bod. Oddly, I don't look like that with my clothes off but this dress...it does all the right things to all the right stuff and I really want to wear it!

Problem is that it is really tight and undie lines will show. A Spanx will solve that problem, but I have to break my vow with my young self. Maybe I'll just try one on and see how it feels. Yes, its a control garment, but if control is not my intent, then maybe I'm not going back on my word. I just hope I'm not heading for some kind of slippery stretchy slope.