I bought this dress for my Christmas party which is on Sunday night. It is a size 10 and it was too small when I bought it. I asked if they had a size 12 and they only had a 14 which the lady told me would be too big. This is after I had been working out for a couple weeks so I thought "I can lose the weight to fit in it" so I cranked up my working out to 1 hour a day and it has worked a bit.

As you can see though, it is still too small for me. I the store brand equivalent to spanx and I am wearing them in the picture. They actually make my stomach look much rounded then it is and it really does not flatten me out at all. They are super tight so I know they are not too big (I have to fight to get them on).

Would buying actual Spanx be better? I think I may have to run to the city for them which is a 3-4 hour round trip so I need to know by tomorrow afternoon. Is there something else I can do to make this dress look a little more decent? I am totally in love with it and want to wear it.

It looks like you've got wicked panty lines. If you went panty hose, no underwear, it'd probably smooth it out alot. I bought those super sucker-inner underwear to wear under my wedding dress, and they made such an unflattering panty line, I never even put them on. :/

I am not wearing panties at all. Just the shaper. That is how my body is shaped, how lucky of me :/ i have some extra fat on my hips/thighs and some on my stomach, but none at all in the area between.

The shaper goes from under my bra to mid thigh. I doubled up the very bottom of them though so you could not see them while I was wearing them.

My body does that too, even when I'm crazy skinny. Bleh.

I vote real spanx. They're expensive, but amazing.

Why didn't you try on the 14, it could have been taken in for you whereas you can't make a smaller size bigger.

I have no idea if Spanx will be better than the store brand you're using, what store did you get it from? That will tell us what sort of quality it's likely to be.

I didn't think about getting it taken in to tell you the truth.

I bought it at zellars. The brand on them says "secret® fusion". I just bought the tightest ones I could find, I didn't really know what to look for when I bought them.

If I can't wear this dress it is not a huge deal, I have other dresses I can wear. I just wanted to see if there was a way to make it look good.

Spanx would be better than Zellers own brand but is it really worth a 3-4 hour journey when you have other dresses you are happy with.

Having said that I'm in town this weekend ( the northern one) but I am on an intensive Pilates course and that doesn't leave much time spare

I would go for the ones that look like a petticoat slip rather than the panti ones, they leave no VPL there is none as they smooth over the whole lot, they're much better than the panti type.

Ones like this

www.spanx.com . . .

Or this

www.spanx.com . . .

Oooh that half slip is awesome! I am going to check out the bridal stores around here tomorrow. One of them has to carry spanx... right?

I had no idea spanx was a brand. I just thought it was a general term...

Definitely try to find one like a slip.

Also, because of the way I am built it looks like I have panty lines even if I am not wearing underwear or I am wearing a thong. I do not understand....

The other Spanx brand is called Assets. Practically the same thing, made by the same company, by the same founder (Sara Blakely), designed by the same people, etc... and they are sold at Target. I don't know where you are from, but if you have Target that would be an option. I looked up Zellers and they are somehow connected to Target... hmmm I don't really know, but they might have the brand Assets too, I would look for that first before driving for the Spanx. Sometimes they have them at some department stores too like JC Penney and Dillards.

Thought I would add that Spanx/Assets (and other brands too) have more than just a half slip so you don't have to worry about the wast line either. They have half slips that go up to your bra line and also the high waist shorts in different short lengths.

Since you said Zellers, I am assuming you are in Canada. Do you have a Bay near you? Many of them carry Spanx. May be worth calling the lingerie department to see if they do.

I don't remember the brand, but at Zellers, I got a fantastic kind of "spanx" that were shorts-style and high waisted that worked SO much better than the bikini style. Didn't have to wear anything underneath so it was perfect for no panty-lines. Around $14 bucks!

The dress is too damn tight. It doesn't fit you around the hips and no amount of exercise will fix that. And no girdle will fix it either. You can't even pull this dress all the way down. And even if you could, the moment you sat down, it would ride up again. Does. Not. Fit.

The dress is suppose to have the fabric gathering. It is pulled all the way down. It gathers on the side so the fabric does not lay straight.

My friends mom looked at it last night and she is letting the bottom out of it so the bottom will not be nearly as tight as it is now. If I can't find something to make it look smooth then I just will not wear it. I was getting excited because it fits a lot better then when I bought it. I guess I will save it for something else.

And thanks! I do have a Bay near me. I will go check them out today.