Mirdles: Making Men Thinner in Seconds

July 31, 2009 — -- Attention men: Is your belly more beer than buff? Is the gym not your thing yet? You want to look trim? The "mirdle" may be the answer for that mushy midsection.

With the arrival of the male version of the girdle, the battle of the sexes just evened up — at least when it comes to slimming shape wear. The mirdle is used to suck, bind, restrain and hide love handles, muffin tops, moobs and other fatty areas of your torso.

One 201-pound editor, Frank Stamper, at ABC affiliate WHAS in Louisville, Ky., volunteered to test out the torso enhancing article of clothing.

Stamper's normal waistline is 36 inches, but with the compression garment, it quickly shrinks inches.

Stamper's waist becomes slims down to 34 and one quarter inches in mere seconds.

"I lost two inches. Where can you go and in 30 seconds loose two inches?" Stamper said.

A smaller stomach is fine and dandy but it's the comfort factor that may matter most for some consumers.

"It was tight, but there was not discomfort," Stamper said. "The waistline was great. There really was no discomfort. You could walk around a full day of work and nobody would probably notice you had the body shaper on."

Stamper was so pleased with his instant tummy tuck that he took the body sculpting tank top home. He is now sold on the compression concept. And if the Internet is any indication, he isn't the only happy customer.

Several Web sites now sell "waist eliminators," chest compressors, mirdles and manziers.

According to Underworks.com, "business is very, very good" and customers are happy.

Mirdles on the Market

One mirdle brand is the Equmen Core Precision Undershirt, which gently pulls the shoulders back while compressing the core. It also claims to improve posture, increase energy and control body temperature.

The undershirts, which are 73 percent polyester, 13 percent nylon and 14 percent spandex, retail for $89.

Then there's the Ript Fusion, which bills itself as a revolutionary torso enhancing undershirt.

It's selling point: It's a "classic men's undershirt injected with steroids." Priced at $58, garment says it can take at least two to five inches off.

And least you can't figure out how to use your mirdle, this shirt even comes with directions.