A slimming costume

A new product claims to make you look "ten pounds lighter in ten seconds" and is being launched in Australia by a local swimsuit manufacturer. We investigate the claim to see whether the suit works.

A well-chosen wardrobe can include a few items to disguise some unwanted kilograms.

"Once you do discover what colours and styles suit you, you take the guess work out of looking great," says fashion stylist Lisa Cimmino of Adelaide business Style in the City Image Consulting. Cimmino knows what it to takes to look good, no matter what the size, and she gives the miracle suit the thumbs up.

The miracle suit is actually a bathing costume made with a fabric called miratex, a fabric that contains three times the lycra of normal swimsuits. The additional lycra shapes the figure, flattening stomachs and tucking in fatty bits to streamline the wearer's form.

The manufacturers of the miracle suit promise that once you put it on you'll look five kilos lighter in seconds and 53 year old mother of two Aneed Tasker has no doubt about that. "I can feel inches off my waist, I can really feel it," she said.

In a nutshell, the suit acts as an old-fashioned girdle by flattening and camouflaging the cellulite and boosting the cleavage. Wearers claim that unlike a girdle, the Miracle Suit is comfortable and easy to wear.

The swimsuit aside, what about every day clothing? What else can women wear to look great and compensate for their not-so-perfect figures?

"If you dress in similar colours it actually makes you look taller and slimmer good to have heel to accentuate legs" says Lisa.

[info: match your figure to the right swimsuit]

Lisa Cimmino made the following suggestions for hiding different body shapes.

To achieve a slimmer waist without exercising, Lisa suggested a knitted long top.

For someone self-conscious about their physique, Lisa suggested tops that flatter a woman's chest.

For taller women, Lisa suggested clothes that accentuate the shoulders and legs.

"It doesn't matter what budget you're on from Valley Girl to Versace, it's about tailoring clothes to you, what you want to achieve," said Lisa.