This Woman’s Body-Positive Pics With And Without Shapewear Are Brilliantly Relatable

Shapewear. Maybe you wear your tummy-flattening knickers every day, maybe you wear them under tight clothing, or maybe you wore them once, found them hideously uncomfortable and swore never to let them darken your knicker drawer again. Whatever your experience with shapewear and Spanx, you’ll probably relate to body-postive Instagrammer Self Love Liv.

Olivia’s been sharing her journey of body positivity, eating disorder recovery and mental illness warrior for a few months now, and she’s already built up close to 16,000 followers. That number, no doubt, has taken quite a jump in the last few days, after her post about the stress of wearing shapewear went viral.

A post shared by Olivia (@selfloveliv) on Feb 8, 2017 at 10:27am PST

“I bought some Spanx about a year ago, hoping it would slim my figure and I could wear body con dresses. Do you know how uncomfortable these things are, breathing was not an option!” she wrote alongside two photos, one of her wearing pink lace stomach-flattening underwear and one without.

Olivia went on to explain that she felt happier without the shapewear, not only because she was comfier but because it felt more natural to her.

A post shared by Olivia (@selfloveliv) on Jan 29, 2017 at 11:17am PST

“I felt tight, uncomfortable and restricted in the first photo. The relief of taking them off was amazing!! Don’t be fooled by campaign ads and TV shows and those fabulous insta models. Spanx are created to give the illusion of a flatter stomach and smaller figure. You don’t NEED them. I feel totally fine in the second photo, and I can breathe again.”

Since posting the photos late last week, Olivia’s post has had 33,500 likes, and counting. It’s no surprise, either, considering how relatable her experience is – and how positive her advice is, too.

• shapewear
• spanx