Want to look slim? Ditch the vertical stripes! Scientists dispel myth that they make you look taller and thinner – and say HORIZONTAL lines are actually the most slimming

Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products featured on our site. If you make a purchase through links on this page we will earn a commission – learn more

If you want to look slim, you can choose a top or dress with vertical stripes.

However, if you really want to look taller and slimmer, clothes with thin horizontal stripes are actually the best option.

This is according to scientists from the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, who debunked the myth that vertical stripes make you slim.

In their study, the team showed people photos of a woman wearing various striped tops and asked them to rate how slim she looked.

The results revealed that the attenuation effect is affected by three key factors: stripe direction, type, and spacing.

Overall, a top with horizontal pencil stripes was perceived as the most flattering piece.

This news will come as no surprise to most trendsetters who often express their love for horizontal stripes on social media.

‘Horizontal stripes ARE AVAILABLE on all bodies!’ One user made a statement on TikTok, while another joked: ‘The rules of fashion are in the trash!’

The slimming effects of striped clothing have been a matter of debate for decades.

Women’s clothing in the 19th and early 20th centuries was often designed to emphasize a long, slim silhouette.

Vertical lines were often associated with elegance and height, while horizontal lines were thought to break down the body.

In their new study, the researchers set out to understand whether this was truly the case.

They write in their work, published i-PerceptionThe researchers explained: ‘As most people want to look taller and slimmer, fabric patterns can significantly affect the overall perceived appearance of clothing.

‘But when two-dimensional lines are applied to three-dimensional forms they can produce different visual impressions and cause optical illusions.’

The team recruited 241 students who were shown photos of a woman wearing a variety of striped tops.

Participants were asked to evaluate their perception of the model’s body image in each one.

From the front, 2×2v received the highest support for weight loss. When viewed from the back it looked like the thinnest 1×1 v

In the first round the tops all had horizontal stripes, while in the second round the tops had vertical stripes.

Finally, in the third round, horizontal and vertical stripes were compared.

Overall, the results revealed that the top with horizontal pencil stripes was considered the most slimming.

‘It is generally accepted that horizontal pencil lines, whether on women’s dresses with or without sleeves, make the wearer appear slimmer,’ they explained.

But this does not mean that all vertical stripes are ugly.

The study also found that a top with evenly spaced vertical stripes can make the figure look slimmer.

The researchers added: “Horizontal lines alone make you look thinner” is a huge understatement.

‘Instead, the slimming effect of striped clothing is affected by stripe directions (horizontal or vertical), stripe type (pencil or equidistant) and stripe spacing (thin or wide).’

The news comes shortly after mathematicians from Northwestern University revealed how fashion trends repeat over a 20-year cycle.

For the research, the team analyzed nearly 37,000 images of women’s clothing from 1869 to the present.

Their results revealed how styles rose in popularity, fell out of favor, and then experienced a revival approximately every two decades.

“Over time, this constant effort to be different from the recent past causes styles to oscillate back and forth,” said study co-author Professor Daniela Abras.

‘The system inherently wants to oscillate and we see these cycles in the data.’

Horizontal striped high street buys for spring