By Isabella Louise Anderson

Sarah Blakely is the inventor of Spanx, and she was also on the cover of Forbes Magazine’s special issue. This woman is a godsend to women!

The day after I turned the big 3-0 in March of 2011, everything changed. I began to notice things were falling – from my face to my ankles. This couldn’t be happening, at least not yet anyway! I’m not old enough, right? While I’ve never minded the aging process (especially because I’m 5’0” and have always wanted to look older), it was the first time that I saw the new me – the adult Isabella.

From then on, I started to be very insecure about how my wrinkles looked (no matter how little they were) and began to really take note about my body image. That December, New Year’s Eve to be exact, my husband and I were going to dinner with another couple and I wanted to get dressed up. It would be the first time in the past two years that I wouldn’t be staying home in bed and falling asleep before the famous midnight ball drop. While I could still fit in my favorite little black dress (LBD), I wanted to look a little more toned in my midriff area. After shuffling around in my drawer, I found a pair of Spanx that my mom let me borrow years ago that I had completely forgotten about. Perfect, I thought! So, after sitting down and maneuvering myself on the floor for about fifteen minutes, tugging, pulling and arranging this magic around my body (come on, you know exactly what I’m talking about), I placed my LBD over my body. Wow! I didn’t look too shabby; in fact, I looked better than I’d looked in awhile. It was like everything had been snapped back into its place! I continued getting ready, and the night was wonderful, except for one thing – going to the bathroom wasn’t an easy thing to do. Just picture me in a small bathroom trying to pull the Spanx back where they belonged! Besides that little incident, I felt great bringing in 2012 with my loved ones while looking good!

Last Saturday, I had an event that I had to go to and wanted to wear a new dress. Now, while I looked good in this dress, I wanted to wear the Spanx again, so I decided to go buy my first pair. What an experience it was!

After making my way to the department store, I headed right to the lingerie department to look for Spanx. I saw a saleslady who I have known for a few years, and asked for her help. When I pulled the dress that I would be wearing that night out of my purse, she handed me a few different styles of Spanx in my size (so she said), then led me to a dressing room. When she closed he door, I changed into one out of the two different styles. The first pair I tried on fit high on the waist. It was too tight and didn’t work, so I asked her for another size – much to her dismayed expression (sometimes salespeople cane be so judgmental). In the meantime, I tried on the other one. Now, this one was by far the least sexy thing I’ve ever tried on. It looked like something that a pro wrestler would wear – but I liked how it made me trim and toned in all the right places. This was a winner! When I slipped on the dress, the straps from the Spanx showed, but I figured that it would work with something else. Anyway, when the woman brought back the right size of the high-waist pair, I tried them on. They fit much better and looked great with the dress. But you know what the best part of these Spanx are? There's a slit so I could use the bathroom through them! Whew! LADIES, SPANX ARE AMAZING!

When I came home, I felt so much better about wearing my dress, but decided to have some fun with the other dresses in my closet, and by the time it was over, my bedroom was a mess! I’m looking forward to many more experiences with Spanx!

Isabella Louise Anderson is a member of the RWA, and she is the owner of the website Chick Lit Goddess. She resides in Dallas, Texas, where she’s a housewife and mother to 12-year-old cat, Thorndike. A regular contributor at Good Humor Girl, you can read all Isabella's articles and learn more about Isabella.