You’ve probably heard that the color black is “slimming” and that people who want to look thinner should wear dark colors.

But did you know that darker clothing also makes you look taller?

It’s true. Here’s why:

Dark colors eliminate shadows

Minor imperfections like shadows and wrinkles are super noticeable in lighter colored materials. Darker fabrics, however, hide these small distractions by eliminating shadows.

See Also: Why Neutral Colors Are the Best Choice for Men

Actually, that’s not entirely true. The shadows are still there, but it’s hard to see them because they blend in with the fabric.

Shadows are dark, so:

• Shadows on white = visible
• Shadows on dark = invisible

Let’s look at a real life example:

Image credit: American Apparel

The net result of this is a clean, streamlined silhouette of your body. This is especially important for short men because the human eye will naturally catch any anomaly as it moves up and down your body. Eliminating these distractions has a heightening effect.

Of course, if you wear shiny dark materials, it will have the opposite effect (think about all of the wrinkles and imperfections a black garbage bag shows).

Dark colors eliminate contrast

Our eyes are really good at seeing shapes. In fact, babies can see and recognize shapes long before they can discern specific details (like eye color, for example).

Shapes are created by contrast. It’s all about how you look against your background. While lighter colors reflect light and pop out from the background, dark colors absorb light and recede into the background.

This optical illusion illustrates this perfectly:

Image source

Which arch do you think is thicker? It’s a trick question – they’re the same size!

You don’t have to wear all black. You can wear navy blue, charcoal, brown, dark green, etc. Even better, you can mix and match two or three of these dark colors together in one outfit for a sophisticated look.