Trick of illusion

We’ve all got an outfit that we reach for when we want to look slimmer. But now designers have come up with the ultimate slimming dress. So forget magic diets and uncomfortable body sculpting underwear to achieve a slender figure as Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Chanel amongst others have created garments that literally redraw the silhouettes — the optical illusion dresses. The garments manage to do two things at the same time — enhance curves and take off inches.

Designer Archana Kochhar says “Optical illusion, like the name suggests, creates an illusion and tricks your brain into seeing something that doesn’t match reality. This in theory when it comes to fashion, creeps into a dress or a series of dresses that can create an illusion by making an individual look slimmer, taller or curvier. In fashion, creating an optical illusion is an incredible method to enhance, downplay or conceal certain aspects of your body. Colours and prints are the most popular modes to create an effective optical illusion.”

Designer Gautam Gupta agrees, “Trippy, optic, pop art motifs and graphic geometric patterns played host to a range of outerwear, dresses, sweaters and shirts on the fall runways. Fashion connoisseurs went into a tizzy as designers sent out  Rorschach-style images, radiating lines and mind-melting, eye-crossing illusions that created a hypnotic- reality-altering daze. Optical illusion, for me, is all about how strategically you wrap, unwrap, play and unplay stripes, prints and swirls etc. to make an effective collective composition that will hypnotise the viewer’s mind.”

Both fabrics and silhouettes play a critical role in creating an effective optical illusion, says designer Amy Billimoria. She adds, “You can play a lot with the silhouettes and choosing the right fabric is imperative. For instance, stiff or crisp fabrics tend to stand away from the body and thus can be used for concealment. Shiny fabrics create the illusion of showing the figure to be larger than it originally is and hence enhancement.”

About the difference in approach to creating an optical illusion dress versus a normal dress — the calculations, the methods, the role of mathematics etc. — Archana shares, “In an optical illusion garment, creating details are much more complex. The approach depends on which aspect you want to highlight. Geometry and angle illusions, cognitive gestalt illusion, colour illusion are just a few example within an array of vivid methods that can be used.”

Whereas designer Zulekha Shariff says that the role of colours too play a crucial part. She asserts, “Colours are in fact the first thing that a fashion designer will experiment with. Be it monochromatic colours or multiple colours, there are various kinds of illusions that can be created with interesting colour play. An illusion of motion can also be created by colour illusion.”

Talking about accessorising in particular, designer Karn Malhotra suggests you stick to minimalism. He shares, “Remember that you are wearing a dress that is creating an illusion. So you do not want anything to hamper this illusion. Go easy on the make-up and use minimum accessories that are really delicate too. If you have an hourglass figure, I would suggest that you go for dresses that enhance your waist and avoid adding volume to shoulder and hips. Similarly, if you want to create an illusion of length, you should go for a vertically seamed dress and vertical design details like pleats. So, before you opt for any dress, recognise your body type and accordingly enhance your strongest features which in turn will create a stunning look.”