By the illustrations on pages [30] and [31] you may learn the value of emphasizing a long line by the trick of placing it between two longer lines rather than between two shorter ones. As in the previous examples, the middle line in each figure is identically the same length. The one at the left, however, appears much shorter than the one at the right, because of a suggestion contained in the parallel lines which surround it.
In the dresses illustrated here, this principle is strikingly applied. The short vertical bands of trimming in the figure at the left make the center band seem shorter than it really is, whereas, the long vertical bands in the figure at the right make the center band seem longer than it really is. Thus, by the application of this seemingly unimportant trifle, the woman at the right seems slenderer, taller, and smarter than the one at the left.
LINES THAT SLENDERIZE TUNICS
Just one more example. The figures on pages [34] and [35] show how a longer, slimmer effect may be created by parallel lines emphasizing an oblique or slanting line. In the figure on the left the plain oblique line seems much more horizontal and wider than it does in the figure on the right where the same line, actually on the same slant, seems much longer and more graceful because of the parallel lines which break it and thereby emphasize its length.
This effect is gained by using the simple principle of optical illusion shown in the small diagram on page [35]. The line running down from upper left to lower right is actually straight—test it and see. But the two perpendicular lines which break it cause it to seem to drop faster than it really does. This gives the effect of greater height and less width to the entire figure.
Note the diagonal line in the opposite diagram. It is actually straight, but the vertical lines which break it give it a “going-down-steps” appearance. This principle is used in the dress at the right—the two vertical panels of trimming break the line of the tunic and give the whole figure a more slender appearance than in the figure above.
Dresses planned with this principle in mind will surely be more successful in their slenderizing effect, as you will see by these contrasting illustrations. The oblique line at the bottom of the tunic in the dress at the left seems almost horizontal and much wider than the same line in the figure at the right which is made to seem longer and more graceful by the parallel vertical lines of embroidery which intersect it and so emphasize its appearance of length and grace.