Cut of Clothes Maximizes the Effect of Amodal Completion to Make You Look Thinner

Abstract

Amodal completion has various functional effects, including an apparent slimming effect achieved by clothes. Local and global completion factors have been examined in previous studies, which also apply to the apparent slimming effect. Exposed parts of the body constitute the local factor at the junction area, while the shape or cut of the clothes is concerned with the whole configuration. This study investigated which is more important, the local or whole factors, for amodal completion in relation to the apparent slimming effect using drawings as stimuli. In Experiment 1, we examined the effects of the length and cut of a skirt. The length of the skirt corresponds to the local factor of the body, that is, the legs, because the exposed parts of the legs depend on skirt length (assuming a person of consistent height). We found that skirts' cut influenced their effect more than their length did. Experiments 2 and 3 revealed that the vertical form of clothes affects slimming by hiding thicker parts of the body and highlighting thinner parts. A supplemental experiment using geometrical figures suggested that the apparent slimming effect of clothes might occur only in the human body configuration.