Really? Maybe I'm just not seeing it, and I tend to be a bit self-conscious but I have this cute scoop-neck top in plum with white horizontal stripes, and I think it looks.. slimming on me. Anyone else find the opposite with certain fashion no-nos? What designs, patterns and colours have you braved against popular belief that it adds on pounds?

I remember an episode of "What Not to Wear" Stacey & Clinton both advising a heavier set woman "No horizontal stripes!!!"it will make you look bigger. But I do think it depends on the shirt and the size of the stripes. I have a shirt with very thin stripes & I rather like it on me.

I find with horizontal stripes, it depends on the stripe. Thin horizontal stripes don't look awesome on me, while thicker ones tend to look really good depending on the color, and tops that have both thin and thick stripes can work depending on how they're situated on the top.

In short: it really depends on the top.

From the world of doctors with nothing better to do:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/s...k-thinner.html

Wow.. Very interesting!

I have bought so many horizontal striped dressed / shirts since I started losing weight. every single one of them make me look significantly slimmer. and they really accentuate my curves, so it looks pretty hot ! I never tried vertical ones simply because I haven't really saw anything with them anyway. But I adore horizontal strips on me and completely disagree that they make you look fatter. everyone says I look 15-20lbs slimmer in stripes, LOL

For me, it really depends on the type of stripe. Wide, rugby stripes generally do not make me look thinner, especially if the lighter colored wide stripe is centered over my widest point (of my hips/rear/abdomen). If the stripe lands there, or the top's hem lands there, it accentuates and exagerates the "humpty dumpty" shape).

A top that ends (or places a wide, light-colored stripe) at my waist doesn't help me any either.

Thin to medium horizontal stripes tend to accentuate my waist, and tends to somewhat disguise the fact that I'm very pear-shaped. Wide strips tend to accentuate and draw-attention to the pear (there are acceptions, but for the most part, wide stripes have to fall "just right" to be flattering on me. Such as a light stripe at the bust, and a darker stripe at the hips).

I love ombre stripes where the color gets progressively darker where the lightest color falls at my bust, the medium color is at my waist, and the darkest color is at my hips....

Anything I like, I try on, even if it breaks the rules I've found true for me. Most of the time, if it breaks my rules, it really does look horrible when I try it on, but I've found enough exceptions that make trying it on worth the risk.

I rarely buy a piece of clothing online if it breaks one of my rules (unless I'm buying casual underwear and jammies), because I hate the nuisance of mail-order returns.

I prefer deep colors to truly dark ones (hate black, navy is ok if it's not almost black). Deep teal and cobalt are my favorite. Cobalt is extremely flattering to my skin tone, and dark enough to be slimming. I don't own a lot of cobalt, because it's not all that popular as a color choice, but I recently bought a strapless sundress in cobalt that I LOVE (and I was very lucky to find a coordinated print jacket to wear with it, because I don't do sleeveless... that's one fashion rule I only break in swimming suits... and only because I can't find a cap-sleeved swimsuit...). I rarely even wear sleeveless jammies.

I've been wearing a lot of medium-sized horizontal stripes lately (probably between half an inch and an inch). As long as things aren't skin-tight, I find that it gives me the illusion of a more flattering silhouette. Vertical stripes are nice on pants, but I think that they look silly most of the time on tops...

For me it depends on the style of shirt/dress. Anything really form fitting that has horizontal stripes makes me look bigger, while loose, baggy clothing it doesn't.

Hmmmm.

I don't care what anybody (especially the so-called "fashion experts" in magazines, etc.) thinks/says/does - I wear whatever I like and whatever I think looks good on me. If something doesn't look good on me (in my opinion, which is the only one that matters to me) then I don't wear it.

I do tend to stay away from horizontal stripes. I have a few t-shirt types with h-stripes, but I would NEVER wear h-stripes on my lower half. Vertical stripes or even better - diagonal stripes - look best on me.

I think it totally depends on the cut and the shape of the person. My mother in law loves stripes. I noticed on vacation that every single top she brought with her was horizontal stripes - white and blue, white and green, white and red. And, they make her look so much bigger. Today she was wearing a different top and she looked 20 pounds lighter.

I think, in her past, they looked good on her. She has a REALLLLLy small/narrow rib cage and a tiny waist - even now at 77 years old, but... she has a gut and big hips. When she wasn't overweight, it probably just accentuated her shape, but now with a ROUND shape, she just looks more fat than she is... the shirts are all long, covering her gut and part of her backside. So, there is this small chest and waist in stripes, and then her big gut and hips... totally exaggerates her bigness. Probably not true for everyone.

I always avoided horizontal stripes as I was chesty and not a well defined waist (now). Makes me look more boxy shaped. But I don't think there is any hard and fast rules. It really depends on the dress and the shape of the person wearing the dress.

Nonsense!! I am very sensitive about trying to wear flattering clothes since I'm self-conscious, and I have two horizontal-striped cardigans I constantly get compliments on and feel cute (relatively) in. I wear them with solid shirts underneath, and they both have a cute shape that makes me sort of look like I have a waist. If I can wear stripes, anyone can

I always avoided horizontal stripes when I was heavier, but now that I've got a proportionate figure, thick or thin stripes are all systems go for me! I think I look pretty fetching in wide stripes and a v-neck shirt, and it seems to accentuate the nipped in waist very nicely.

LOL such a weird study (the link posted by someone) but I guess that's helpful although I've been told (by my honest mother) that stripes make me look wider when they're thin. It depends on the stripe and the color. I guess you just gotta try it on each time and take a pic of yourself to see what you think or take someone with you to try stuff on and have them be brutally honest.

If I wear stripes I break them up with something otherwise I feel self conscious. This is me the other day wearing stripes. Surprisingly it makes me look slimmer than I really am. http://distilleryimage2.s3.amazonaws...3b0a4c95_7.jpg