Jessica Alba wore ‘a double corset day and night’ for three months post-partum


You have to give Jessica Alba credit. She’s good at parceling out information about her personal life so that she gets the maximum publicity for it. One of the last times she talked about losing her baby weight (it wasn’t the only time) she said that she stuck to a 1,200 calorie a day diet from one of those meal delivery services they have in LA and that she worked out feverishly. (I’m paraphrasing, but look at her, she did that.) In a new interview with Net a Porter Magazine, Alba reveals that she wore 2 corsets day and night for three months after her last baby and that it was hell. This makes me wonder if she breastfed. I mean I guess she could have if her boobs could pop out of the top, and no judgment either way, it’s just a technical question I have as a nosy mom. Like how would that work? Again, it strikes me that this is a piece of information that Alba saved until she could make it the focus of some new interview. She knows how to give a soundbite. Here’s more:

On reading her past interviews
“I think that’s why certain people get into social media, because it’s like, ‘Here’s my voice,’” she agrees. “It’s funny to read a past interview version of [me]. It’s so frustrating, I’m like, ‘But that’s not…’ It’s a misrepresentation, but I’m aware it doesn’t really matter. I can only control what I can control. I know who I am and so does my family.

On her husband and a recent vacation they took
“It was our first trip in six years that wasn’t for work. I didn’t realize how important it was until we got home and I was like [excited voice], ‘We like each other; we really are best friends.’ I knew we were rooting for each other every day and we’d made these two people who are my favorite things on the planet, but having that time just us, it was cool to connect. We both chose the right person.”

On her role in Sin City two and how being a mom makes her chill
“It was so opposite to what I do [at home]. My approach to acting now is so different – I’m fearless because I have nothing to lose. Before [children] my identity was wrapped up in every decision – now, I don’t care. It could be a pile of s**t and you could think it was the worst thing you ever saw, but I still had the best experience.”

On how she got her pre-baby body back
“It was brutal; it’s not for everyone,” she qualifies. “I wore a double corset day and night for three months. It was sweaty, but worth it.”

[From Net a Porter via NY Daily News]

No wonder she looks so miserable all the time. I don’t know much about corsets apart from wearing the occasional spanx-like cami, which is probably infinitely more comfortable than one corset, not to mention two. Does this even work? It seems like a ton of discomfort when it’s really the low-calorie diet and exercise doing all the work. Now there will be a bunch of women with newborn babies sucking in and lacing some tight corset around themselves when there’s no need. This bugs me a little because I would hate to do this to my body. It’s one thing to work out hard for a manageable hour and get a nice buzz from it, it’s another to torture yourself all day and be uncomfortable just to get a small waist.

Kaiser reminded me that in 2011 Jessica said that she wore “a girdle around my tummy from the moment I give birth until it doesn’t feel loosely goosey anymore—that takes a good two to three months. It’s spandex with Velcro.” She gave birth to her last child, daughter Haven, in 2011, so she must be referring to the same thing here. So which is it, did she wear two corsets or did she wear one girdle that was spandex with Velcro? That doesn’t sound as punishing as a traditional “corset” type thing but I still couldn’t do it.

These photos are from Net a Porter and the spread is pretty in a bland, soft-focus way. It looks like a commercial spread for Abercrombie and Fitch.

Alba is also shown at the playground on 4-14 and at Coachella on 4-19. Credit: WENN.com

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61 Responses to “Jessica Alba wore ‘a double corset day and night’ for three months post-partum”

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  1. lori says:

    She chain smoked her way to loosing the weight. SO I kinda hope she didn’t breast feed.

  2. LAK says:

    My tribe in Africa do the corset thing after childbirth. The idea is that it helps your stomach muscles get back to where they were pre-pregnancy.

    Don’t know if it is scientific, but they absolutely insist on it, and it does work/help.

    • Rhea says:

      Most women in my home country would also wear a corset after childbirth for the same reason like you. It becomes a culture thing, actually. Although the design of the corset is different with the one they sell here in America, the idea is the same.

      My mom sent me a couple of those from my country, and I tried my best wearing that while breastfeeding but damn that thing feels uncomfortable!!! I gave up after a week and skip that ritual at my second childbirth.

      I must say that it does work for those that got more self discipline than me 😀 , but then again they also watch what they eat plus doing some exercise.
      I think it’s the combination that make it works.

      • LAK says:

        Absolutely about the design. It isn’t about getting an 18in waist.

        On reflection, perhaps it works because the muscles suddenly don’t have the tightness of baby inside to give them a framework of something to hold on to as they are stretched to accomodate the growing baby so that when you use the corset thing, it’s giving them a type of support, but in the opposite direction so they ‘remember’ where they were.

      • Gillian says:

        This makes no sense at all. If anything – it’s the other way around. A corset holds the tissue in so the muscles don’t have to do the work, so they atrophy. It’s like bras – they actually cause breasts to sag because ligaments and muscles atrophy.

      • Karma says:

        I understand that French guy’s study just came out but seriously it’s bad advice to give. Gravity is real…lol

        My small-breasted friend was pregnant and her girls grew a couple of sizes. She didn’t support them, at all, and completely ruined her breasts.

        If she would have supported her girls until they went down after giving birth they might have had a chance of returning to normal. She even mocked me for warning her to wear a bra.

        Jessica is simply supporting her waist/skin with a corset until she returns to her normal size.

        And iirc, the French guy even said his theory didn’t apply to busty gals, just small-breasted ones.

        But small or large-busted, it’s still bad advice. I’ve seen a lot of saggy small-breasted teens/women, who were never pregnant, but wrongly believed they were exempt from gravity as well.

      • jacq says:

        @ gillian i don’t know where you get your information, but bras do help prevent breast sag because they prevent ligament stretching over time. this is according to my human sexuality professor with a doctorate from yale, so i think i’ll take her word for it.

    • maria says:

      it is called corset training and has been done throughout history and my friends from Palestine say they practice it with heavy girdles. I do not understand the freak out in these rags! Wearing a corset 8 hours a day will result in losing inches over 3 months for sure but you have to work your way up to that long wear, I have been corseter for 20 years

  3. Catherine Paris says:

    Corsets are not only full body, there are also corsets only for your waist and hips too.

    • JenD says:

      That’s probably the two corsets then, so it wasn’t full body to impede breastfeeding.

      Still, it sounds uncomfortable.

  4. hadleyb says:

    If she wants to torture herself with compression garments, corsets or spanx let her.

    She has to bring up stuff like this because she has nothing going on except having kids lately, why are paps even following her? Or thats right, they are not she calls them a long with Hilary Duff .. there are only so many pics the public wants to see of some has been z list movie actress carting her kids to the park or Starbucks.

    Lots of people wear compression like garments after babies — this is nothing new. Some use them while losing weight to tighten the skin even if they didn’t..

    • It is ME!! says:

      Yeah, Imma have to concur with everything you said, but I’ll add that she also probably have surgical help or skin resurfacing as well.

      Does Hollywood really expect us to believe that NO WOMEN in Hollyweird get stretch marks or droopy bellies after having children? Pffft, please.

      • V4Real says:

        I know she’s trying to stay relevant but at least she’s not giving us the I worked out for five hours, six days a week schtick as most celeb women give. She’s saying it required other than exercise for her to get her pre-baby body back.

        BTW I was one of the lucky ones; I never got stretch marks during or after giving birth.

      • Lucy says:

        I’m pretty sure she had a tummy tuck, in one of the last articles on here you could see the scar line (maybe from a c section as well but I’m more inclined to say tummy tuck)
        http://www.celebitchy.com/271968/jessica_alba_shows_off_her_body_in_a_bandeau_bikini_in_cabo_cute_or_unflattering/

      • Diana says:

        @It is ME:Yeah! I’ve always wondered abot the strech marks and it was always such a mistery to me, how could nobody in HW get them.

      • TG says:

        My comment is for this thread piece. I remember Jessica saying something about stretch marks after her first child. Some BS about it was worth the sacrifice “stretch marks and all”. As you can see she doesn’t seem to have any, but I am not an expert on stretch marks since I didn’t get any either (but don’t go hating me, God blessed me with cellulite a plenty that I have to fight off – a losing battle I might add). I did read that she was seen going into some facility getting cellulite removal treatment or fat removal. Who knows but I can tell by looking at her stomach that it looks like she has had something done. I do wonder where her waist went. She is straight as a board in her middle like a teenage boy. She used to be curvy. I think Tracy Anderson has ruined her. I can’t stand Jessica because she is stupid. Why is she relevant? She owns some baby goods company. I don’t think the press follows what the owner of Clorox or Johnson & Johnson or Palm Olive, ect is up to. It seems these people can’t decide whether they want to be business owners or celebrities. That is why I rarely if ever buy celeb products because I can’t stand the greedy way they try to make money. I would love to sell a line of shampoo or jeans or whatever, but no one is going to give me the time of day so why should they get ahead just because they are famous. Most of them are just fronting for the company anyway and are not the brains behind it. I can’t imagine Jessica sitting in her office 16 or more hours a day running her company.

      • V4Real says:

        Lucy that looks like a c section scar; I had one as well

      • ya says:

        Looking at the pics at Lucy’s link, whatever that mark is on her abdomen (if we’re looking at the same mark/scar), I don’t think it’s either a c-section or tummy tuck scar. It’s too high up.

    • Decloo says:

      She’s shilling a book.

  5. Launicaangelina says:

    I have never had children but using corsets/girdles after delivery is somewhat common among some of the people I know. If I ever have children, I’d be willing to try it.

  6. JL says:

    I had a “corset” wrap after a bikini incision and it definitely made me feel more secure and kept muscle tone.

    If that’s what she did fine, better than those whining 5 – 10 years later – it’s baby weight. No sugar that’s your weight, you’re waaaayyy past the baby weight stage.

    • Decloo says:

      I had to wear some contraption following liposuction. It must be the same principle–getting the muscle memory back and dealing with stretched out skin.

      • Lulu.T.O. says:

        It was to decrease swelling and bruising.

        Corsets do nothing but make your back and stomach muscles lazy, because their work is being done for them.

  7. plum says:

    LAK- same, we do that where I am originally from too. It works. My mum did it for me, my bro and sister, ate traditional nutritious food in moderation and went back to work as a nurse reasonably soon. The weight dropped off quite quickly but I think it’s also a mix of good genes and willpower! At 52, she looks fantastic.

  8. amanda says:

    Referencing her work in Sin City? Is that really her most noteworthy acting or just the most recent.

  9. A says:

    Well, it worked and she looks amazing so good for her!

  10. O'Connell says:

    My mother did this after she gave birth. I think it’s an old idea. She used a girdle. My mother thought that after birth all your organs are kind of loose and hanging out. The girdle or corset helps put them back into place. It works. I know at least one woman from Europe that did it. I am sure my mother did not do this day and night.

  11. Karen says:

    I’ve heard a lot of women wore compression garmets after birth. They’re basically corsets designed for postnatal women. They help with back pain as well as vanity reasons suck you in. No biggie.

  12. EscapedConvent says:

    It’s hard to get too excited about this after wearing three girdles at once in high school. If one girdle lets you look five pounds thinner, I thought, then three…..

  13. rianic says:

    I did it after my singleton and my twins. I had csections, and it just helped my stomach not be all wibbly wobbly all the timey wimey. I wore a special post partum girdle, a csections compression band, and a thing called ShrinkHipz Part of the science is that the elastin hormone that causes your joints to spread is still in your body for around 2-3 months post partum, and you can use that to shift everything back. My hips are smaller now than before my pregnancies (hello 26 jeans).

    I also wore support bras and foundation lifts to keep my breasts from getting lax from their growth from an A cup to a DD!!!

    • Hollz says:

      Yay for Dr.Who references! 🙂

    • muffintop says:

      Allon-sy! Timey-wimey. Have you seen the pix Matt Smith has been leaking? The other day he put up a pic of their shoes. The chucks were there!

      • Isa says:

        I think it’s the relaxin hormone. I really regret not buying the hips shrinker. My ribs are wider too.

    • Heathers says:

      I want. I NEED to know where you bought this stuff, and official names for it. I hate being vain, but I was blessed with a great body before having my first baby. I’m still lookin’ pretty good, but we’re trying for our second and I’m willing to do a lot more this time around to keep from looking/feeling terrible afterwards. What a nightmare it is for some of us…

  14. Sunnyjyl says:

    Both of my west coast, american grandmothers did this. They each had 5 children and little waists. They said that it was just what you did back then, when I asked how they could look so good after 5 kids and I was stretched out after 2.

    • telesma says:

      My mom gave me my first corset when I was 13. I thought she was nuts, but I found it let me wear tighter clothes so after my initial reaction, I was very happy with it. I’m 42 now and even when I gain weight, I still have a small waist.

      My mom is also the one that bought me girdles after my first child was born. Again, thought she was nuts, but she swore I’d be more comfortable if I wore them for the first couple of months, and damn if she wasn’t right.

  15. Bridget says:

    She probably just says ‘corset’ because girdle sounds so old-ladyish. They’re pretty common, especially for C Sections. You can buy them pretty much anywhere.

    And just my speculation, if she was only eating 1200 calories a day she probably wasn’t breastfeeding, since that would only have left her body about 700-800 calories to function on. Even when trying to lose weight that’s pretty aggressive. But I could be wrong!!

    • Leen says:

      It sounds about right. A good way to lose weight is to aim to eat 1200-1300 calories a day (along with exercise). My mom is a trainer and it’s what she did after having her children and snapped back in shape (a diet of 1300 calories, exercising and breatfeeding). Anything lower than 1200 isn’t very good, and anything less than 1000 calories is unhealthy.

      Plus you get a surge of energy with adernalin with working out.

      Although this is strictly for weight loss. Maintenance is a whole different issue.

  16. Zigggy says:

    I think she’s talking about the Belly Bandit. I wore an abdominal binder after my first and I’ll be doing it again- it’s supposed to help your uterus go back down to size. And after my surprise c-section, the support was SO helpful.

  17. Agnes says:

    That sounds absolutely terrible. The last thing I wanted after labor was to be confined to a corset. I just wanted my body to chill and get a relaxing break after many months of hard work.

    Also, I doubt she breastfed. That’s be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to do on 1200 calories a day. You need ca 500 calories “extra” a day while breast feeding. And she says that she worked out like crazy, so that’s extra calories there too. It doesn’t sound like she’d be able to make enough milk on her low caloric intake to feed a baby.

    • Scarlet Vixen says:

      I came here to say the same thing. It’s darn near impossible to breastfeed on only 1200 caloriea a day–especially if you’re also working out. Your body needs an additional 500 calories or so a day ON TOP of regular daily intake. I had my 3rd baby 5mos ago, & at 33 the weight isn’t falling off quite like it did when I was younger! I started limiting my calories, but when my milk supply started to dip I had to go back up to over 1800 cal a day.

    • Leen says:

      It’s very, very possible. A couple of posts up, I mentioned this.

      My mom is trainer so when she had us, she had a diet of about 1200-1300 calories a day, plus gym, plus breastfreeding. It was completely feasible and logical if you are trying to lose weight. Because you are suppose to go i the negatives if you want to lose weight. You’re suppose to be left with -600 calories.
      When exercising (and best to do it in the morning on an empty stomach or very light breakfast), your body burns from the fat that is stored. Afterwards, you eat, and the nutrients you gain goes straight to ‘the rest of the day’, mostly for breastfeeding and doing what you usually do on a normal day. (Although to be completely fair, I have no clue how my mom managed to sustain her milk supply, given you ladies are saying it affected your milk supply… i know the same thing happened my aunt, although she is a trainer as well and her milk supply didn’t get affected either when she worked out like crazy and followed a weight loss diet, I guess maybe genetics is at play too).

      I’m sorry if I sound a little rude, but if your plan is weight loss, you are suppose to burn a lot more than what you eat (the trick is that you do not go over board with not eating anything and work out like mad).

      Any healthy weight loss diet is aimed at a caloric intake of 1200-1300 (sometimes 1500). Only marathon runners and athletes don’t follow this because their aim is not weight loss but muscle building, stamina, and endurance, and for them losing weight can actually be harmful for them.

  18. ok I get that this is a culture thing too and so Don,t want to disrespect that , and as a woman who gave birth last year and really wanted my a$$ to shrink quickly I embarassingly looked into this for a fast second. sheepish face****** And, like in many other areas women are way too gullible. There is absolutely NO science or reason why doing this would change the body nor cause you to lose weight….its crap. My ob was very clear ….only diet and exercise …do not waste your money…..jessica is successful bc she is hot , not bc she is bright.

  19. Fizz says:

    Corsets can be very comfortable when they’re fitted correctly and well made! Very warm, though. A real, modern corset has several layers of fabric (strength layer, “fashion” or pretty outside layer and lining is usually a minimum) and steel boning. Underbust corsets only go up to, funnily enough, the underbust area, so could be comfortably used by breastfeeding mothers without too much faff. Wearing two real corsets at once is stupid and will only damage the garments. She’s talking about girdles here, though, as people have said before me, and wearing more than one of those at once might be… more effective, although it still seems daft not to just get one with more tug.

  20. Mira says:

    What’s the difference between corset and girdle?

    • LAK says:

      Personally, i tend to think of the difference between the two in terms of their functionality. A corset is mostly worn for asthetics of a tiny waist whereas a girdle is worn primarily for lower back and post pregnancy support.

      However, here is a wiki google definition of both.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corset

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girdle

      Personally, i tend to think of the difference between the two in terms of their functionality. A corset is mostly worn for asthetics of a tiny waist whereas a girdle is worn primarily for lower back and post pregnancy support.

  21. blaize says:

    This is good to know. If I have a child I’ll wear a corset afterward. It doesn’t really surprise me that this works, since wearing corsets for years is how Dita von Teese got her tiny waist.

    • Lulu.T.O. says:

      All it did was displace her organs either up, down, or both. Corsets are truly a barbaric thing to do to your body.

  22. Heathers says:

    I don’t think it’s a great idea to be so terribly vain about your body enough to put it through all kinds of pain, and I think it’s more important to work on your mind and your character, but that said I’m not ashamed to say I’d try this. In a hot minute. For me, giving birth and carrying the baby left me cursing. Some of us never quite recover. I didn’t get many stretch marks, and the ones I did get (along my appendix scar) have faded pretty well. But my joints are worse, my hair is still dry, it went from stick straight and low-maintenance to being wavy and stubborn, my ribs grew, etc. I had post partum depression for 18 months afterward. I was on medication immediately after coming home from the hospital, and it didn’t do much good for me. This time around, I’m willing to try just about anything to look and feel better afterwards. I’m going to watch what I eat like crazy. I’ll eat healthy amounts but only healthy foods. And I’m totally trying the placenta encapsulation thing. And I’d try this too, if it meant I could look better and feel better about myself. I’ll probably have to cut my long hair off and start all over. Ugh.

  23. Mrs.Krabapple says:

    I will give her credit for admitting the weight loss was due to low calorie diet, working out, and corset to deflate the abdomen. I don’t think 1,200 calories a day while also working out is healthy, but it is a legitimate reason why she lost weight.

    What I don’t care for are celebrities who lie about the dieting and hours-long work out, and simply pretend the weight magically melted away just because they are soooooo genetically superior to other women.

    Alba still can’t act her way out of a paper bag. But at least give her credit for honesty about the weight loss.

  24. xploxite says:

    she’s beautiful.
    I like her sense of style & the top in the first picture too.

  25. telesma says:

    comments is doing weird things…instead of editing, it’s just making another comment

  26. telesma says:

    I wore corsets all through high school (corset trained, 17″ waist at graduation), then wore girdles after giving birth both times. I was FAR more comfortable with a girdle than without. Walking around after giving birth with things all loosey-goosey, knocking about…that is a really weird and uncomfortable feeling.

    So I’m really not shocked or put off by her statements. Seems pretty normal to me.

    Also, there are plenty of corsets that don’t cover the breasts.

  27. Jade says:

    2 corsets sound painful. Anyway some Asians use girdles/wraps more so it’s not uncommon to me where I come from.

  28. Heathers says:

    Checking in again. No one has responded to my comment upthread: where oh where can I buy a corset and/or girdle? Good ones?

    • MorticiansDoItDeader says:

      This is where I got my corsets:

      http://passionalboutique.com/store/index.php?cPath=30_206

      I linked you to the page with the waist cinchers and under bust corsets. They are real (steel bone corsets) and can be painful if tight laced. I tight laced after birth and had sore ribs and bruising. These are well made. Call the store and talk to them about how to properly measure yourself for fit.

      • Heathers says:

        @morticiansdoitdeader: thank you for the link! One further question now: is it safe to wear something like this if you plan on having more kids in the future? It seems as though it might be a little dangerous to wear one and change the shape of your waist BEFORE having all the kids you hope to have?

  29. Rio says:

    I wore a corset (Victorian style) every day during my last year of high school and the first two years of college (my satin overbust finally gave up the ghost after that and it was too expensive to replace…)

    Honestly, once you get used to how it feels, wearing a corset is not uncomfortable at all, and after awhile of steady use you actually feel really weird NOT wearing some kind of compression garment. This is why I always laugh whenever a historical movie (“Titanic”, “Brave”, etc) uses the “heroine being laced into a corset to show her oppression” trope…those women would have felt, if not naked without their corsets, strange and probably pretty uncomfortable, considering the bra wasn’t invented until about 1914– and that was only invented because a society lady saw that people could see the outline of her corset through her dress, not because she was raging against the norm.