A waist, a bust and chapped armpits, oh, my!

I have recently ventured more aggressively into retro style shapewear territory (the better to fit into vintage dresses, with their itty bitty waists and large-ish busts).

As a curvy petite gal (38-28-39 and just shy of 5' tall, if you must know) I've found it does wonders to further accentuate an hourglass shape and it has the added bonus of making my already decent posture become one of epic, ballerina-esque proportions.

The only problem I've run up against is that the waist cincher I've been wearing rubs my underarms raw when I sit.  Is this only a problem for us shorter gals, do you suppose?  Has anyone else run up against this?  The one I'm wearing resembles the one below..

Image courtesy of Rago

Any suggestions would be most appreciated!
XO,
Me