First Female Self-Made Billionaire
 

Sara Blakely, the creator of Spanx, has become the first female self-made billionaire. She's an alum from Delta Delta Delta.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...sEnabled=false

I just want to say...thank you, Sara Blakely.

That is all. :)

I hated her during my wedding!

Huh, I'm pretty surprised that Spanx created a $billion fortune at all. I had no idea it was that big a company. Omnipresent, yes, but I'd have been surprised if you told me that it had netted $1 billion in total sales, let along that much in profit.

Then again, I'm often surprised by the much smaller, more niche-y ideas that spawn millions and billions of dollars in profit (Sillybands, for example!).

let's see, 4 cents worth of lycra, $50 for a pair of underwear. There's some pretty good profit there! And the fact that she was able to resurrect the girdle, minus any of the stigma or old-fashioned'ness is remarkable.

Am I the only one that Spanx really don't work for? Do I need a personal fitting or something?

Lol...the last sentence is almost a direct quote of what I said to my daughter this am while we watched her appearance on CBS this morning. :)

hey, I'm hoping they bring corsets back in fashion.....

^^^ Lol!

Wait...they're not IN fashion? Well, there goes my wardrobe....;)


Seriously, though - I'm with you. Besides the pain of putting them on, they're fabulous for the figure.

Well, not knowing what you look like, I suppose it could be one of 2 things, you are remarkably smooth without any squishy parts through the middle, hips or thighs, or you're not wearing them tight enough. They should be an absolute chore to get on or off. If you can put them on or off without throwing your husband into gales of laughter, it's probably too big.

Really, a typical 16 year old probably wouldn't get great benefit out of them because even if they're a bit overweight they shouldn't be very jiggly. But even if they're not sucking much in, they should still provide a smooth line which always makes dresses hang nicer.

Let me make a caveat on the bringing corsets back that we all agree that this is not ok, and the girlies need to stay INSIDE the garmet:
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs12/f/20...ttsherrill.jpg


Also, when searching for this pic, I discovered a disturbing trend of corset piercing...having rings put down your body and then threaded with ribbon....gross!

Hey, where did you find that picture of me?

For corset afficianados like me: http://ornamentedbeing.tumblr.com/

Cool, I didn't know you were one of the Village Washer Wenches. ;)

Love it! These are women who know how to WEAR CLOTHES and not let the clothes wear them. :)

My daughter's prom dress is a corset style. But, yuk. No corsets for me. I like my ribs intact, thanks.

Anyone else find it a little ironic that the first female self-made billionaire made all her money by marketing a product to women that makes their bodies more sexually desirable? Just something I find a little amusing.

Good point, sister!

I love Spanx. Love them. I feel like I look fine in clothes, but I like having everything tightened up. Also, back support.

Like!

The compression also helps with cramps! AND the tights are badass!

Although, I feel the need to point out that she was not the first female self-made billionaire. She's the youngest female self-made billionaire. Oprah's been a billionaire for a while now, as has Meg Whitman (who is in tech, btw), and Meg Whitman isn't even the wealthiest woman in the state of California (she's 4th, although I'm unsure whether the others are self-made).

Thank you Sara! :D

As a closeted costume historian/nerd, I LOVE this blog. How am I supposed to focus on writing a paper when I have this beautiful blog to look at?! Thanks for making my whole day, MaryPoppins.

I need to learn to read more carefully.

I think it depends on which ones you're wearing. For example, I'm obsessed with the tights. Really, I'm obsessed with tights in general. I used to rock Wolford like no other but then I discovered Spanx tights! They're downright cheap compared to Wolford and if I accidentally throw a pair into the washer they're not going to deteriorate any faster. I have a pair of the panties and they're just okay. They're really hard to get into but don't make everything smooth like the tights do.

The subject of Spanx came up at lunch yesterday (maybe because of this milestone), and several people had stories of struggling with them. One person said that she thought it might be easier to get them on if she initially put them on inside out and sort of pulled them up like the reverse of peeling a piece of fruit. Somehow her hand got stuck inside of them and then she fell over, so she was left flopping on the floor like a fish.

I hate to laugh at my friends, but that was hilarious.

I almost wonder if the folks who are having this much trouble with them should just go up a size.

My "real pair" of spanx (so, not the tights) isn't any harder to get on than a snug pair of pants, and it's the super duper control and I'm not a small woman.

The ones that are like bike shorts are easy to put on--my problem was with the "Higher Power Briefs." Height and weight-wise, I'm in the lower half of my size range so that's not it for me.

You know...they really didn't remove ribs and things for corsets and just...I'm really into historical costuming and such and I don't want to derail this thread...but I can some you some things....

Yes there were tight-lacers and such...you should see some of the clothing from the late victorian age...you would think they were modern day Dom wear...really corsets are just foundations for the fashions of the day....you could never achieve those looks without the correct shaping...they were the girdles of their day...even going into the 1920s, they wore lightly-boned corsets to achieve the correct shape...

As a Florida State grad, I can promise you that we're all very proud to learn that she's the youngest female billionaire, and I know the FSU Tri Delt chapter is proud of her as well!