Yoga pants are beloved by women everywhere for being the comfiest pants around. Unfortunately all that stretchy athleisure goodness comes with a price: Yoga pants hide nothing. And nowhere is that more apparent than in the frontal region where peek-a-boo privates can range from a discreet outline to full-on camel toe. There are those who will wear their dromedary salute with pride, but most of us prefer to minimize or camouflage it.
Some women, however, are going way past using a panty liner, special underwear, or even a "cuchini" to put their biscuit back in the box. According to the New York Post, these ladies are going so far as to cut off pieces of their labia to achieve that perfectly smooth, Barbie crotch look in all their leggings, no matter how thin the fabric.
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"The ubiquitous yoga pants that everyone is wearing are playing a big part in this trend," Richard Swift, MD, a plastic surgeon who performs between three and five labiaplasties per week, reported to the Post. "For those whose labia are enlarged, they can make them feel uncomfortable and exposed. One of my patients was particularly self-conscious doing Pilates in a leotard — so much so that she was afraid to do certain moves." (Side note: There are so many reasons to feel self-conscious doing Pilates in a leotard, really.)
That ladies want to look good in their clothing isn't new, but labiaplasty, the practice of getting the pubic area surrounding the vagina reshaped with surgery, may be one of the more extreme trends women have used to do so. Whether it's to look like a porn star, please a lover, look younger or rock yoga leggings without fear, over 6,000 women had the procedure last year alone and while that number on its own isn't too shocking, the rate increased 48 percent from the previous year and continues to skyrocket in popularity, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
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At $5,000 to $7,500 a pop, getting a makeover down under is a serious commitment — and that's not even counting the fact that you're taking a scalpel to one of your most sensitive areas. This seems like a lot of effort to go to just to wear tight pants. But ultimately, like breast enhancements and tummy tucks, perhaps the real benefit is in the self-esteem boost. As one anonymous satisfied customer told the Post, "When it comes to that part of the body, less is definitely more!"
Or maybe it's just time to buy looser pants.