CONTROL TOP GARMENT
A control top garment having a lower portion coupled with an upper portion. The upper portion can be adapted to shape the midsection of a wearer to create the appearance of a smaller or more shapely midsection.
The following application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/243,276, filed Sep. 17, 2009, the complete contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND1. Field Of The Invention
The present disclosure relates to the field of clothing, specifically a garment adapted to restrict the midsection of a wearer to create the appearance of a smaller and/or more shapely midsection.
2. Background
Many people desire to achieve the appearance of a smaller or more shapely midsection. Conventional body shapers exist, however they require layering under pants or other bottoms. What is needed is a control-top garment that provides both bottoms and restrictive material for the midsection of a wearer, in one garment. In some embodiments, the wearer should be able to have the comfort of wearing jeans and the effect of body shaping apparel without wearing two separate garments. In some embodiments, the undesirable appearance of bumps created by buttons and other fasteners at the top of pants, skirts, dresses or other bottoms when worn under a shirt may be eliminated.
As illustrated, the implementation can include a lower portion 102 coupled with an upper portion 104 that can include stretchable material. As illustrated, in particular implementations, a lower portion 104 may include a portion of a pair of jeans, with an upper portion 104 adapted to couple with a lower portion 102 to allow the upper portion 104 to extend from the edge of the jeans upward along the body of the wearer. While in the implementation illustrated in
In the implementation illustrated in
Referring to
Implementations of a control top garment 100 may be manufactured in a wide variety of ways and from a wide variety of materials. In some implementations, a conventional pair of jeans or pants may have portions that include the buttons and belt loops removed before an upper portion 104 can be coupled to the jeans or pants 102. The general objective that may be accomplished in many implementations of control top garments is to allow placement of the upper portion at the locations along the wearer's body that will permit comfortable wearing of the jeans and simultaneous shaping of the body to produce a desired look, feel, and/or contour. In particular implementations, because an upper portion 104 can be coupled with a lower portion 102, there may no longer be any need for buttons, zippers, or fasteners to be included in the crotch area of the garment, which may reduce the bulk or undesired appearance created by these fastening devices. In implementations such as skirts, portions of the skirt may be removed prior to coupling with an upper portion 104 or the entire skirt may be coupled with an upper portion 104. In other embodiments, a lower portion 102 may not be pre-manufactured, and instead can be manufactured and/or assembled at the time of manufacture of, assembly of, and/or coupling with an upper portion 104. In yet other embodiments, any other known and/or convenient method of manufacture can be employed.
While the lower portion 102 of a garment 100 can contain any of a wide variety of materials, such as, by non-limiting example, cotton, polyester, spandex, nylon, wool, and/or any other textile material, an upper portion 104 of a garment 100 can be made of a material or materials that allow an upper portion 104 to be more elastic and stretchable while still being restrictive and able to shape the wearer's body than a lower portion 102. In some implementations, however, the lower portion 102 and upper portion 104 may have equal elasticity. In yet other implementations, a lower portion 102 can have greater elasticity than an upper portion 104. An upper portion 104 may be formed of any of a wide variety of materials, including, but not limited to, nylon, spandex, elastanes (such as those marketed under the tradename Lycra®), polyester, polymer, cotton and any other textile material having desired elastic characteristics.
Referring to
Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention as described and hereinafter claimed is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A garment, comprising:
- a lower clothing portion adapted to be worn over a wearer's lower extremities;
- an upper portion coupled with said lower clothing portion;
- said upper portion being comprised of elastic material;
- wherein in a relaxed state said upper portion has less surface area than the surface area of a wearer's midsection.
2. The garment of claim 1, wherein said upper portion is coupled with said lower portion via stitching.
3. The garment of claim 1, wherein said upper portion is made of material chosen from the group consisting of: nylon, elastane, polyester, polymer, and cotton.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 17, 2010
Publication Date: Mar 17, 2011
Inventor: Ilya Welfeld (Berguenfield, NJ)
Application Number: 12/885,292
International Classification: A41D 1/06 (20060101);