Quite a surprise for Dave. I learned something myself. I had wondered what modern foundation garments looked like. I’d never expect my wife to wear that constricting stuff. Looks too uncomfortable. She likes to enjoy our evenings out.
Tina was a good sport to end her long run with Dave in such a unique way.
“Good sport,” my ass. She was just doing what all celebs do to get attention. The same thing happened when Carson went into retirement. Each guest tried to outdo the others with the hope of getting in the record books.
Great. Now I’m imagining Bette Midler stripping down to her spanx and singing One More For My Baby to Carson. 
The women who grew up in the fifties would like to have a word with Tina about contraptions - and with aceplace57 about constricting…
Which of those contraptions she was wearing was a Spanx? At the minimum, I’m seeing some sort of elaborate bra, something like a truncated pair of pantyhose, and a garment over both of those resembling a leotard.
(I should have looked at the link before responding). The pantyhose are the Spanx.
No surprise for Dave. It was a scripted bit.
Drew Barrymore was a surprise for Dave.
I’m not sure Dave knew. Watch him turn and look towards somebody for direction after Tina asks him to unzip her. I’d guess he was looking at the director. Who did know what Tina intended and that what she wore under the dress was tv appropriate.
At that point I guess Dave knew it was fine to play along.
Letterman may not have known exactly what Tina Fey had in mind, but I doubt it was a total coincidence that he complimented her dress when he did. (Or that he specifically mentioned her dress at all – I think he usually makes more general compliments like “You look tremendous!”) I assume he was at least told that Fey had a surprise planned and that he should say something about her dress when he was ready.
I’m sure he did. He clearly was going along until the final moment, when he was actually.surprised. One thing Dave is not is a good actor.
Maybe not a great actor, but who can say that Cabin Boy wasn’t a better film for his presence?
And Debra Winger?
The modified bra and truncated pantyhose are the Spanx. It’s one overarching - such as it is - garment based on surgical compression garments designed to keep swelling down post-operations. They streamline the body and squeeze it - temporarily - into more classically attractive forms.
The bra is just a bra. It’s not Spanx brand, and I don’t really see anything “elaborate” about it, although I’m curious as to what makes you think so.
The “truncated pair of pantyhose” is Spanx’s bread and butter. That’s the original Spanx garment, one of two styles that started the company. If you look closely, you’ll see that it goes down her thighs and comes all the way up her lower ribcage and stops at the bottom of her boobular region. That’s the “high-waisted, mid-thigh” shapewear. (The other one that started the craze is the same thing down the leg, only the waist stops at, roughly, the natural waist.)
The garment over those resembling a leotard is also a Spanx product, the Slimmer & Shine® Open-Bust Bodysuit.
It should be noted that she layered garments like that to be funny. She could have replaced all three with the Trust Your Thinstincts® Adjustable Strap Mid-Thigh Body, or she could have kept her bra and worn the Slimmer & Shine® Open-Bust Mid-Thigh Body
looks like she borrowed her grandmother’s underwear. This was all about getting her name in the news.
Lent new meaning to the term “butt-ugly”.
My theory: she did it to get a laugh.
I’m a Tina Fey fan, and always thought she looked great and sexy, but seeing her in that outfit did nothing to enhance my opinion of her. She looked fat and un-sexy. How is that possible?
I thought she looked better with the dress on, although I suspect she would look even better if her curves were natural, not constrained by spandex.
Better than Letterman in *his *underwear, I’d be willing to bet.
All of you guys are missing the point so, so badly. How many times has Tina made a point to say she’s not as sexy as you think she is and all this TV stuff is a mirage? That was one of the main thrusts of 30 Rock for goodness sakes!
“She took off her dress and was ugly!” Or “This was a stunt for publicity” are so off the mark. I guess you could call it a failed stunt since so very few men understood the joke.