I am contractually obligated to start any Skims review with: I bought all of this myself, they are not paying me, they have no idea who I am. The end.

(That’s the only PR-disclaimer paragraph. It’s also kind of the review.)

I wore four Skims pieces, on rotation, for twelve months. Meaning: washed regularly, wore to the office at least twice a week, lived a normal life in them. This is what happened.

The pieces I tested

The four pieces, listed before I get into the opinions:

  • Fits Everybody Bodysuit — $58, snap closure, thong back. I bought the black first, then the burgundy in October.
  • Sculpting High-Waist Brief — $32, full coverage. Bought in black and sand.
  • Smooth Seamless Short — $28, hits mid-thigh. One pair, black.
  • Cotton Ribbed Tank — $36 each, three colors over the year.

I’m a size 22, sometimes a 20 on top, and I wore all of these in 2X or 3X depending on the cut.

Woman in black tights and heels

I wore these in rotation — office, dinner, that one wedding in October, the holiday parties, the random Tuesday. The order I tested them in roughly matches the order I’ll review them. Mostly. (Spoiler: the order changes slightly by the end.)

What’s actually worth it

The Fits Everybody Bodysuit. Yes, you read that right. I am a Skims believer when it comes to this specific item. Snap closure stays snapped, the thong back doesn’t ride up, the fabric is thin enough to disappear under jersey dresses but substantial enough to smooth things out where I want them smoothed. I wore it under a velvet jumpsuit on New Year’s Eve and I forgot I had it on. (Until I had to pee, twice, in a restaurant bathroom. The thong back is real.)

It is not cheap at $58. But it’s been worn — I’m not going to estimate the exact number, but somewhere north of 80 times — and it has not pilled, not stretched out, not lost shape. It is the only bodysuit I own. That’s worth it to me.

What’s a pass

The Sculpting High-Waist Brief. Sigh. I wanted to love this. The compression is genuinely firm without being painful, and the waistband stays put on my body (which is the eternal plus-size shapewear question). But: it pilled at four months. The inner thigh pilling that you cannot de-pill, the kind that makes the fabric look old. I still wear them, but under long pants, where you can’t see. I would not repurchase at $32.

What’s the only shapewear that didn’t roll

Body positivity portrait in neutrals

The Smooth Seamless Short. Look, I have owned shapewear from at least seven different brands over the past decade. I have tried everything your search results can suggest. Every single pair rolled at the waistband. The Skims Smooth Seamless Short is the only one that did not roll. I wore it under a bridesmaid dress in August (yes, August, yes, heat) and it survived. I am a little bit bitter I didn’t find it earlier in life.

It’s $28. It’s not magic compression. It is, however, the only shapewear short I have owned that did not end up in a drawer.

What shrunk

The Cotton Ribbed Tank. I bought three (black, white, sage). I washed them on cold, hung to dry, the responsible way. The black is now cropped. The white is now cropped. The sage — which I wore the least — is also cropped. I am 5'7” and these tanks are now belly-shirt length.

Whether this is a me problem or a fabric problem or a cotton-blend problem, I cannot tell you. I can tell you that it’s a problem.

The brand vs the reality

The brand sells aspiration. The reality is: two of four pieces held up, one pilled, one shrank. That’s a 50% batting average, which is honestly fine for a fashion brand at this price point but worse than what the marketing team is selling you. (And yes, I tried the “Skims Fits Everybody” bra too, briefly — returned it, the band rode up. Did not include it in the official test because I only wore it twice.)

I’ll keep buying the bodysuit. I’ll keep wearing the short. I won’t repurchase the cotton tank.

That’s a year.

Have a brand question? Send it to me — I read every message.