LINE OF BEAUTY! Why horizontal stripes make you look slimmer
FASHIONISTAS have long claimed that vertical lines flatter but horizontal stripes make people look fatter.
However, scientists have discovered that dark horizontal lines are actually more slimming than other clothing designs.
Despite the perception that an area filled with horizontal stripes is taller than an identical one with vertical stripes – an optical phenomenon known as the Helmholtz illusion – there is a persistent misconception that vertical stripes elongate while horizontals widen.
Now a study has shown that dark horizontal stripes may be the ideal option if you want to look thinner.
The findings, drawn from three experiments in which photographs of a variety of models were shown to 108 participants, were made by psychologists from Amsterdam and Crete universities and published in the scientific journal Perception.
Antonis Koutsoumpis, of Amsterdam University, said: ‘The story of stripes in clothes is old and inconsistent.
‘Contrary to the common belief that stripes make someone look wider, we found that a dress with horizontal stripes is perceived as significantly thinner than a similar non-striped dress.’
It appears, however, that the common misconception about stripes may be hard to shake.
While participants in the study felt horizontal stripes looked thinning on others, they believed the opposite when they wore them.
Although researchers concluded dark horizontal stripes were the best choice, they said more research was needed to find the perfect garment in terms of colour and width of stripe.