# Do you think the young woman in this photo needs spanx? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275 "2016-01-26T17:17:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/1 "2016-01-26T17:17:48Z")
Do you think the young woman in [this photo](http://media.graytvinc.com/images/12565438_10208367106073455_4966904763513674806_n.jpg) should wear Spanx? For those unaware spanx are compression undergarments that help you look more shapely and less, well fat. Related story here: [KAKE](http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Mom-Store-worker-says-daughter-13-needs-SPANX--366472861.html) Apparently the girl (13 years old) and her mom were shopping for a formal dress for the girl and a Dillards department store employee upon seeing the girl try on the dress suggested that she also needed some spanx. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/2 "2016-01-26T17:37:41Z")
I think it’s a pretty dress in a nice color. The girl does have a bit of a pudge though. That said, I would think it is the job of the store employee to find her a flattering dress, not point out what support garments to get. But, if that’s the dress she wants, then all we need to do is find her some nice heels and a cute little purse to go with it. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/3 "2016-01-26T17:39:16Z")
I think she looks fine. Could she look better with spanx? Possibly. But I don’t have the reference point to say for sure. A better question is whether the Dillard’s employee suggestion represented a faux pas. As touchy a subject as weight can be, it wasn’t the smartest thing to say to a teenaged girl. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/4 "2016-01-26T17:45:12Z")
No one _needs_ Spanx. There’s no goal that must be achieved here. Teenagers, in any case, don’t need to be told about Spanx. The girl already knows it exists. If she wanted it, she would have asked for it. And telling people they look fat is never a good sales strategy. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/5 "2016-01-26T17:47:45Z")
She would fit the prevailing idea of what looking good in a dress is by wearing Spanx. Not to look thinner necessarily, but to smooth out her figure and meet that idea. This would put the product the woman is selling in its best light. That does not mean she **needs** Spanx. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/6 "2016-01-26T17:58:45Z")
First of all, that’s a thirteen-year-old? She looks older than that. (But then again at that age, girls look more mature before boys.) And second, I would think a department store salesperson would know how to say something like this diplomatically. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/7 "2016-01-26T18:00:12Z")
I think the dress isn’t sized correctly for her. The top fits, but the bodice is too tight. A dress like that is not really meant to show the dent where your bellybutton is. I think this detracts from the line of the dress. Spanx could be one solution. Going up a size and having the top altered to fit would be another. But if this girl doesn’t mind the bellybutton divot and thinks that looks okay, and most importantly, loves how she feels in the dress, then nobody should push anything else on her. I think this is where the Dillard’s saleswoman fucked up. It’s not Spanx she should be trying to upsell, it’s Dillard’s alteration services. “The line of this dress is designed to not quite fit this tightly through the middle. If we go up a size, the straps and cups might not fit, but we can alter that right here and it only takes three days! Would you like to try a different size to see how it looks on you?” This blames any problems someone might perceive _on the dress,_ not on a girl’s body. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/8 "2016-01-26T18:00:22Z")
From the mother’s account it sounds like an impolitic way to suggest the girl think about wearing Spanx. We don’t know what the saleswoman actually said, I get the hint of mother bear indignation. I don’t know what it’s like for women to shop, but I’d appreciate the salespeople not telling me everything looks good on me. I can’t recall any clothing I’ve ever bought that the salesperson didn’t say looked good on me. I don’t think anything ever looked good on me, maybe I’m wrong but I doubt reality lies at the extreme opposite. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/9 "2016-01-26T18:03:17Z")
It’ll ride up with wear… I’m free! ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/10 "2016-01-26T18:05:25Z")
If we were all dressed the way God intended us, we’d be naked. It is the job of department store employees to sell us everything else. The rest of this is faux outrage over nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/11 "2016-01-26T18:05:45Z")
**Dogzilla** nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/12 "2016-01-26T18:08:17Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > **Dogzilla** nailed it. Maybe I should go apply to work at Dillards. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/13 "2016-01-26T18:11:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > First of all, that’s a thirteen-year-old? She looks older than that. Yeah, I wasn’t NEAR that developed up top when I was 13. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/14 "2016-01-26T18:22:09Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > A better question is whether the Dillard’s employee suggestion represented a faux pas. This is the only question that should have been asked. A thread giving fashion advice to a 13-year old girl and debating if she is overweight is a little messed up. She’s a girl, not a young woman. And she’s a real person who could easily see this public thread with a bunch of people debating her body shape and breast size. Thirteen year-olds have enough shit to deal with, they shouldn’t have to deal with this too. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/15 "2016-01-26T18:27:38Z")
I suspect the Dillard’s employee could have been more diplomatic, but “I don’t want to say exactly what she said because it was extremely unkind”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/16 "2016-01-26T18:29:26Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > She’s a girl, not a young woman. And she’s a real person who could easily see this public thread with a bunch of people debating her body shape and breast size. Thirteen year-olds have enough shit to deal with, they shouldn’t have to deal with this too. Or she’s a young woman who clearly looks good and feels good in the body she has. Again, I wasn’t saying she looks bad or there is anything wrong with her; there is a standard way that kind of dress should look and Spanx may be part of it. I agree that it’s a skill the salesperson needs to have to say that in a constructive way. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/17 "2016-01-26T18:47:12Z")
> [@Emiliana](#): > > No one _needs_ Spanx. There’s no goal that must be achieved here. > > Teenagers, in any case, don’t need to be told about Spanx. The girl already knows it exists. If she wanted it, she would have asked for it. > > And telling people they look fat is never a good sales strategy. This. And what **Dogzilla** said. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/18 "2016-01-26T18:48:54Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > This is the only question that should have been asked. A thread giving fashion advice to a 13-year old girl and debating if she is overweight is a little messed up. She’s a girl, not a young woman. And she’s a real person who could easily see this public thread with a bunch of people debating her body shape and breast size. Thirteen year-olds have enough shit to deal with, they shouldn’t have to deal with this too. Except that her mother posted an open letter on Facebook, apparently including that photo. So it was her mother who make this thing public, not you or me. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/19 "2016-01-26T18:52:16Z")
If it was me, yes, I would wear some kind of foundation garment under it. Actually, I agree with **Dogzilla** , it’s not the right size. I also see nothing wrong with the sales lady suggesting it\* if her opinion had been solicited\*. The article make it sound like she just came into the dressing room and started hurling insults which obviously is not cool. In fact, if it went down like the mother said, she should have been fired and I don’t know about this woman but had something like this happened to my mother and me, dear maman would have(verbally) kicked her ass. So basically, I don’t think we’re getting the whole truth here. Getting back to the spanx / no spanx issue, I realize I’m a hundred years old and all, but I was taught to wear at least pantyhose when wearing a fancy dress. It just smooths things out and finishes the whole package. And yes, that goes back to even when I was 13. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275/20 "2016-01-26T18:57:35Z")
I straddle generations with regard to this question … the world gave up on panty hose just as I entered college. So on one hand, I feel like suggesting Spanx to this girl–over twenty years my junior–sounds like the sales associate acting like an old lady. One more generation and we’re back to girdles, you know? On the other hand, the mother and daughter should have taken it this way: any time one wears a clingy dress like that, one should wear smoothing foundation garments. Has nothing to do with a woman’s figure, it’s just what’s done. God forbid she be able to use the bathroom in less than ten minutes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-the-young-woman-in-this-photo-needs-spanx/744275.md?page=2)