- I first heard the term faja from my dad.
He'd be like, (foreign language).
- A faja's kinda like a girdle.
I saw my mom use it a lot.
(foreign language)
From what I expect from wearing a faja is a lot of pain.
A lot of, like, not being able to move around.
Not being able to bend your back, essentially.
- I'm ready to see what people go through to look good,
you know, cause a lot of ladies, a lot of young women,
a lot of moms and tias rock these,
like to every quinceañera, you seen 'em.
You know, the baja faja dance and stuff like that.
- Hopefully I lose a couple pounds or something,
or just come out looking bigger.
- Can I get one of the fajas with levanta pompis?
Levanta pompis?
Oh, man, don't you know?
They're these garments and, like,
te levantan las pompis?
We all know what pompis are, right?
You know, booty cheeks.
(laughs)
We're on the way to Queens right now,
we're about to hit up Made In Columbia.
It's a store that specially caters
to people who are looking for fajas.
Hopefully they have what we need.
(foreign language)
- I feel like a...
- Orale, orale.
So today I'm gonna be rocking a faja to work.
I still don't know what to expect,
except for tightness around the midsection.
So you can see I'm rockin' a pretty standard issue Dad bod,
but we're gonna see what this faja can do for us today.
Let's try it on.
- I actually called my mom yesterday night,
and I was tellin' her everything.
She's excited for me to try it out.
We'll see.
- It's like a quiz.
Modern day beauty device or medieval torture device?
Check it out.
It's bursting, literally about to burst.
Look at the seams.
- The one thing I realized
is that it's gonna be really hard to
put on my...
Shoes and my socks because I cannot...
(groans)
I cannot kneel down.
- My body has finally conceded to la faja.
Whereas previously it was all uncomfortable
and pushing against it,
it's now just numb and sitting there.
So I wonder how my organs are doing.
- Just started walking.
I can feel it pressing on everything in my body.
It's just painful, yo.
- I'm not gonna be able to sit down all day.
I'ma try right here, though.
It kinda feels like everyone knows,
but nobody knows.
We're sitting here all self conscious.
Yeah, right?
I feel like these senoras definitely know
that these fools are up to something.
La faja's riding up,
and there's no discreet way to pull it down.
'Cause it goes a little into my pants.
I barely survived two meetings.
This shit's so fuckin' tight.
- Just used the bathroom.
That was helpful.
Released a lot of stress and tighting.
But then put, fixed it, and it was horrible.
Gotta like, put it back on.
- I'm home.
'Bout the time the thing came off.
It's killing me.
My upper lonja is not having it anymore.
So like, this is it.
This is it, goodbye.
You've treated me well.
Damn it.
And.
Listo.
Terms of discomfort,
it wasn't like the worst thing in the world,
once you got used to not breathing or eating.
- I did get like a sharp pain through my intestines,
and I was worried for a little bit.
- There was a little bit of chubs,
little lonja, the tiny love handle,
that crept into where I've never had one before.
Like right above the girdle.
- So I definitely have a new found respect
for people that wear fajas.
Especially mothers and everyone that wears it.
- I don't know if we get to keep these,
but I'm keeping this one, it's part of my body now.
It makes me feel comfortable, safe.
Like someone's hugging me in the midsection.