What hides lumps, bumps and bulges, and can be found in nearly every woman’s wardrobe? You got it: Shapewear. But is it just skin-deep? Does it have any positive or long-term benefits?
Perhaps few people know more about the cosmetic changes and health benefits obtainable from wearing compression garments than Vera Watkins, founder of Vera Vasi Shapewear. For decades she has grown her company, supplying medical-grade compression wear to plastic surgeons and their patients around the world as a tool for skin retraction and smoothness post-surgery.
“Many people own tight-fitting athletic wear or body suits, but these are not true compression garments,” Watkins said. “A properly designed medical-grade compression garment applies an exact amount of pressure to the body and provides several immediate and major long-term benefits when properly fitted and worn.”
There are two wow-factors users experience the first time they snuggle into a properly fitted bodysuit. The biggest ‘wow factor’ of the new Vera Vasi line is the comfort of the fashion garment, along with an instant drop in dress size.
“Women are overjoyed because there is no discomfort or feeling of being squeezed,” Watkins said. “Their bodies look slimmed, shaped and smooth, and they can wear the garment as long as they like, even sleep in it, because the Vera Vasi bodysuit becomes like a true second skin. Women literally forget they’re wearing it. Many of our styles can completely replace a woman’s bra and panties and provide that beautiful smooth silhouette.”
With long-term wear, users experience a second wow factor: permanent body change. Clinical studies have proven that when compression clothing was worn for at least six to eight hours daily for a six-to 12-month period, permanent reshaping was achieved.
Watkins said permanent reshaping happens due to three factors:
- Improved Circulation: When the tissues around a vein are compressed, muscle and tissue movements around the vein are magnified, and blood flow is enhanced, allowing more oxygen and nutrients in and forcing out waste products. What is the result? Wearers feel more energetic. Studies have shown that energy output increases by as much as 10-to 40-percent, however, too much compression can interrupt circulation.
- Micro-Massage: The micro-massage effect is a stimulation of skin and the fluid under it that allows the body to process the fluid, smooth any tissue under the skin, and help the skin retract to its prior shape. In the Vera Vasi line, the micro-massage effect is responsible for the immediate reduced appearance of cellulite in the areas covered by the garment.
- Physical Comfort: The properly constructed, ultra-soft medical grade compression fabric provides multi-dimensional stretch and mimics the human skin by ‘giving’ with the body’s natural movements, which provides the wearer with continuous comfort and a desire to wear the garment 24/7. There is an additional element built into the shapewear: COOLMAX moisture management. Fabric aids the skin in its normal cooling and drying process by absorbing, wicking and evaporating body moisture, which keeps the skin continuously cool, dry and comfortable. An anti-microbial protection agent controls odor, mold, fungus and mildew.
“Think of a compression garment as your wedding ring,” Watkins said. “How long have you been wearing your ring without thinking about it? Now look at how it’s been gently and permanently compressing your ring finger for all these past years and has actually changed the thickness of your finger. Putting on your Vera Vasi bodysuit for the first time is going to be very much like sliding on your wedding ring for the first time. One day you’re going to look back and remember those events as two of the most important things that ever happened to you.”
ABOUT VERA VASI SHAPEWEAR (www.veravasi.com)
Vera Vasi Shapewear, manufactured by the Marena Group, Inc, a manufacturer of medical grade compression garments, was founded in 1994 by Vera and Bill Watkins. Production began out of the couple’s home garage, and by 2001, the company received the Small Business Exporter of the Year award from the state of Georgia. Marena continued to expand, receiving accolades and awards from industry experts and agencies, and was named apparel manufacturing Grand All Star of 2006 by Apparel magazine. Today, Marena and its vast array of products are widely recognized as the world’s leading compression garment manufacturer with representation in 79 countries around the world.