Octavia Spencer may have a SAG award and an Oscar nomination, but girl's still just like us. She tortures herself in the name of beauty and goes to extreme lengths to make sure she looks her best. The Help actress told Ellen DeGeneres that she squeezed into not one, not two, but three pairs of Spanx under that gorgeous Tadashi Shoji gown. Octavia may have won a SAG award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, but her Spanx won a trophy for Best Supporting Role on an Actress.
You know, I'm starting to think that Spanx are the new stiletto. Super high heels are painful, pinchy night-ruiners, and so are those godforsaken sucky-inny undergarments. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Octavia told Ellen all about her painful experience:
I could not party that night because I was being pinched in places that I didn't know it was possible. I ran into Melissa [and] said, "Oh my God, Melissa, I'm about to die. My Spanx are killing me." She said, "I just went to the bathroom and took mine off!"
Been there, done that, Melissa. On more than one occasion, I've slipped into a stall, peeled off the Spanx and probably a layer or two of skin, and stuffed the evil-doers into my purse. When I used to wear those sexy, strappy, impossibly high heels, I used to shed those, too, by the end of the night.
A lot of us think we need stilettos and Spanx to look great, but really, there comes a time where you have to start weighing what's most important to you: Looking a little bit taller and slimmer and leaving the party at 9 p.m.? Or looking your normal height and weight, feeling comfortable, and enjoying the night, the whole night, pain free.
Octavia took it to the next level by wearing three pairs of Spanx (I think that's actually a torture tactic used at Guantanamo), so it's no surprise she was suffering, but we've all been there in some way or another. I don't know, as I get older, I'm less tolerant of putting up with pain for any sort of beauty advantage. My focus is more on optimizing my fun, not optimizing my look.
I bet Octavia won't wear three pairs of Spanx to the Academy Awards. I'm sure some sort of lesson was learned at the SAG awards. I'm sure that if she wins that Oscar, she'll want to enjoy the night to its fullest. And Spanx don't let you do that, my friends.
How do you "torture" yourself for beauty? Spanx? High heels? What else?
Photo via Jason Merritt/Getty