Grow taller visually
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Create T-shaped elements

Create T-shaped elements

Which of the vertical lines in the pictures is longer?

The illusion of the Wundt-Fick

Are you thinking it’s the left one, right? Most people would agree with you.

when vertical lines disrupt the horizontal lines, the horizontal lines would look shorter while the vertical lines look longer1

Here we are dealing with the Wundt-Fick illusion or the inverted T. The upper rectangle divides the lower one into 3 parts, which makes the lower one appear shorter than the upper one, even though they are actually equal in length.2

You can stretch the necessary parts on your body by forming the letter T on them. Note that the vertical stripe should be wide enough to create a noticeable separation.

The Wundt-Fick illusion in clothing
Image. Wundt-Fick illusion. The shirt protruding under the jacket mimicking the letter “T”. Your waist appears smaller, while your height is taller.

  1. Chen, Tzu-Yu & Peng, Li-Hsun. (2013). Zebra Effect in Fashion Design: Challenging Consumer Stereotype on Striped Clothing. Proceedings - 2013 5th International Conference on Service Science and Innovation, ICSSI 2013. 100-107. 10.1109/ICSSI.2013.29 ↩

  2. Morikawa, Kazunori, ‘Geometric Illusions in the Human Face and Body’, in Arthur G. Shapiro, and Dejan Todorovic (eds), The Oxford Compendium of Visual Illusions (New York, 2017; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 June 2017), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794607.003.0026, accessed 19 July 2023. ↩

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