About Us
One day, hour by hour
Shapewear is judged in the shop mirror for about forty seconds, and then worn for fourteen hours. We think it should be chosen the other way round. So here is what a support garment has to get through in a single ordinary day, and what we look for at each point before we'll sell it.
07:10, getting into it. A piece with real hold is meant to take a little effort to put on. But a little. If you need to sit down, hook a thumb under each side and negotiate, it's a size too small, and it will spend the day reminding you. The right size goes on standing up.
08:30, the commute. Walking, stairs, a bus seat. This is where a waistband either stays where you put it or starts a slow migration downward. What decides it isn't how tight the band is; it's whether the elastic is cut wide enough to spread its grip, and whether there's a silicone strip or a firmer edge to anchor it. We ask for both on anything sold as high-waisted.
10:00, the forgetting point. By now you should have stopped thinking about it. That's the entire test. A garment you're still aware of at ten in the morning is one you'll take off at four.
12:30, sitting down to eat. Sitting compresses the body differently from standing, and a seam that was invisible at the desk suddenly makes itself known across the top of the thigh or the lower back. Flat-locked seams, placed away from the crease of the hip, are the difference. It's a construction detail, and it's the most common reason a piece gets worn exactly once.
15:00, hour eight. Comfort at minute one is easy; almost anything soft manages it. Hour eight is where cheap elastane shows itself. It has been warm and stretched for a working day, and it has started to give: the band slackens, the leg bags. Good elastane recovers. Both feel identical on the hanger, which is why we read the fibre specification, not the fabric, before deciding.
17:45, the car. Leaning back into a car seat is the harshest test of a bodysuit or a longline piece: the full length of the back seam and every fastening between the shoulder and the seat is under load. If a garment is going to dig, it digs here.
19:30, under something else. Dinner out, a fitted dress, a thin blouse. Now the question is whether the edges show. Laser-cut or bonded edges disappear; a stitched hem prints through jersey and satin. We say on every product page which kind a piece has, and what fabrics it disappears under.
22:40, taking it off. The last check is the one nobody talks about. Deep red lines at the waist or thigh don't mean the garment worked hard. They mean it was the wrong size. A piece that fits leaves the skin looking much as it found it. If you're getting marks, tell us; going up a size usually fixes it, and your 30 days cover the swap.
23:00, the wash. Cold water, no fabric softener, no tumble dryer. Softener coats elastane and kills its recovery; heat does the same faster. Most support garments that "wore out" were washed to death in a season. Care instructions are on every product page, taken from the label, and they're worth following.
What we ask before anything goes up
Four questions, and most of what we're offered fails at least one.
What is the elastane, and how much? Too little and it doesn't hold. Too much and it grips hard, runs hot and degrades fast. We want the percentage and the grade, in writing, before we look at a photograph.
How are the seams built and where do they sit? Flat-locked or bonded, and placed off the pressure points: hip crease, lower back, top of the thigh.
Does the cut hold across the size range? Most garments are fitted on one sample size and graded outward. Done carelessly, that gives a piece that works for some customers and quietly doesn't for the rest. We ask for the grading, not just the sample.
What does it weigh, and does it recover? Fabric weight and stretch recovery predict whether a piece keeps its shape through a day of movement. It's in the specification, and it tells you more than any image does.
That's why the range is short. Everything in it has answers to all four.
What we don't claim
Our products are not medical devices. They aren't intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition, and nothing on this site is medical advice. When we describe compression level, support or fabric weight, those are design characteristics so you can judge what suits you, not clinical claims. If you have a medical condition, are recovering from surgery, or have been told to wear compression for a health reason, speak to a qualified healthcare professional before buying, and follow their advice over anything on this page.
What we won't do
Manufacture urgency. No countdown timers, no "only two left" when there are two hundred, no deadline that resets when you refresh. If something is genuinely about to sell out, we'll say so once.
Chase trends. Basics that date are basics you replace early, which defeats the point of buying them.
Overclaim. Nothing we sell will change how you feel about yourself, and we won't pretend otherwise. What good basics do is quieter: you stop noticing them. No adjusting, no shifting, no relief at taking them off. That's a low bar in theory and a surprisingly high one in practice.
Ask before you order
Not sure about the size, how much hold a piece gives, or whether it works under a particular fabric? Email us your underbust, waist and hip measurements and the size you usually wear, and we'll tell you which size and why, including when a piece runs small or gives less support than the photograph suggests. If the honest answer is "not this one", you'll get it. We'd rather give good advice than process a return.
What you can count on
Free, tracked delivery on every UK order, with any import charges paid by us. Thirty days to change your mind, sale items included, on top of your statutory rights. No restocking fees. Care instructions and edge construction on every product page. And a reply within one working day, from a person who read your message.
Where we are
Comfaine LTD is an online shop registered in England. There's no store or fitting room; the address below is for correspondence, not visits.
Email: support@comfaine.com Phone: +44 191 493 0200 Customer service hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 am–9:00 pm UK time Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays: Closed Response time: Within one working day
Comfaine LTD St Michael's Way, Metrocentre, Gateshead NE11 9YG, United Kingdom