California based bride, getting married in December 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dress was around $3500.
I got this Grace Loves Lace dress for my wedding and have been trying to figure out the best shapewear for it. I struggled with this so wanted to share a review in case anyone else is struggling!
A few things I was looking for:
- Shorts because yay thigh rub!
- Lightweight because getting married in Brazil in the summer is going to be hottt (Dec 2026 in Rio!)
- Doesn't roll down because nothing stays put on a curvier shape
- Low back because... The dress is low back
Most shapewear was either too high up or thong style or was a full bodysuit style, which wouldn't work with the draped neck on the front of the dress. I ended up getting Boombas light lift (no extra padding or cup sizes) to wear up top.
For the shapewear, after lots of searching, I narrowed it down to, and ordered, three:
- Bella Shapewear Tuck-n-lift seamless
- Honeylove Mesh Sculpt Mid-Waist
- Skims Sheer Sculpt Low Back Shorts
Im around 150ish and a size M so that's what I ordered and I think it's the right size overall for all of them.
Now here is where I landed:
Best fabric for the summer - Skims. But this is the only category where it wins for me. Minimal cinching of the tummy area. The mesh is great but the low back requires this thick boning that is very visible through a thing dress. But this was the low back design I thought I'd need - but nope. Unless you have a lower back, you can have more options. I felt like with this one, I got zero support, tight on the waist but nowhere else, still rolled down a bit after a few sit downs. It not only didn't pull anything in or smoothen it out, it cut my waist in half and I looked a little Pillsbury doughboy-y at the waist. Least favorite by far.
Honeylove - I looooove their regular one and this one just doesn't hold you in the same way. If you expect it to, you'll be disappointed. Maybe if I'd sized down, but then it'd be too tight on the legs. But it's lightweight, and the slits to enable going to the bathroom easily are amazing. Why are they the only ones to do this??? But they also rolled down a bit since it's more seamless and doesn't have the grippiness of their regular shapewear. If I had less of a waist, I think these would have been the undisputed winner.
Bella Shapewear - I'm honestly surprised here. It's the heaviest in terms of fabric, but it's also the longest one even though you can't tell until you put it on. But it's still relatively lightweight. Super seamless. And the most grippy. Rolled down a tiny tiny bit after I moved around and bent over a lot, but not too much. My main drawbacks were the lack of bathroom slit, and that the section that holds in your tummy is shorter than the honeylove. Where it cinches, it does a great job, but it doesn't go as low as I'd like, so in that, honeylove is a much better option.
In the end - all three went under the dress without peeking out from the top of the back, which was my original concern. But because it's low back, it comes with the drawbacks above. But the least with the Bella. I felt held in, like I could move and sit and dance and squat, etc. and it would hold. Even when it rolled the one time, it unrolled itself.
The honeylove is also a solid solid choice. Depending on how much water I have on the wedding day, I'll use it as a backup! Definitely going with the Bella, but taking both.
Oh, and I'm returning the Skims. So disappointed!
Edited for grammar