I cannot repress my smirk as I read in The Wall Street Journal that, “Shapewear has Women Bent Out of Shape.” First, that I’m actually reading about foundation garments in the WSJ, and second because it only recently came to my attention that Spanx, Yummie Tummie  and the like are being worn constantly by people I know. It never even crossed my 45-year-old mind that I could avoid a dreaded “muffin top” by investing in something that looks like my grandmother’s old girdle, albeit in a sleek, “sexy” black.

The darn things really work, and whilst I am basically telling the world that all my time in the gym and at fitness classes can’t seem to get rid of that lovely baby pooch I earned 15 years ago, the foundation garment biz is booming and no matter how uncomfortable or awkward — thank God I’m married and my husband finds my Spanx application and removal a source of extreme hysteria — there’s a simple bottom line (no pun intended). They work, and they’re likely to improve in comfort and ability to squoosh everything into the proper position, as we women keep snapping them up.