Tag Archives: impact of t-shirt colors

Why Does Black Make You Look Skinnier?

All dark colors make objects look smaller. This is true of furniture, fabric on a bed, house paint, and everything else that you can see. The reasons behind this have a lot to do with the way the eye works and how it perceives things that it sees. When you look at something, you tend to see the edges of it and to perceive those edges as the border of the object. This can be blurred when the object is dark because it appears to have fewer borders. A lighter color object will have lines, shapes, and perhaps partitions on it that are very visible to the eye. But when the object is very dark in color, none of those will be very visible at all.

This same principle works with clothing. For instance, if you are wearing a black T-shirt, you will look slimmer on top that if you are wearing a white one. If you have a very light T-shirt on, your shape will be noticeable within the fabric. Any curves, bulges, or flat areas will be noticeable beneath the white fabric.  If the T-shirt is black however, that will not be the case. All that will be easily noticeable is that there is a field of black. This field will not have bulges or areas that look large unless the T-shirt is very tight. That creates a field that is slimmer and smaller looking than it would be otherwise.

Many people wear black often because it has this effect on the eye. If you are feeling self-conscious about having a large chest, having a less than flat stomach or any other figure problems on top, a black T-shirt will work wonders works on that area. The plain black field makes the bulges fade away to the eye and can and instill self-confidence for that reason.

Like a black T-shirt, a pair of black pants can be very slimming to the legs.  If you have a lower stomach that is giving you trouble, or you have saddlebags or thick thighs, wearing a pair of black pants has the same effect that wearing a black T-shirt has on upper figure faults. It creates that same black field of space in which specific areas of the figure are not noticeable.

The way that light plays against dark and light colors is also a factor in the way that different colors make you look. Black does not reflect back the light that shines on it. A light color reflects light away from it. Both of these effects have an impact on how large the color makes an object book. Because black does not reflect the way the light, it is a deeper field color that makes itself look smaller. Because white does reflect light, its light color draws in the eye. If you don’t want the eye brought to your problem areas, make sure that you are wearing black. This will not only make you look leaner, it will give you the self-confidence you need to feel better about your figure.

Why is a Black T-Shirt Hotter Than a White One?

Anyone who has been out in the sun in a black t-shirt has likely noticed that sunlight makes the shirt get hotter and hotter under the sun. If you’ve worn a white t-shirt, you may have noticed the opposite effect and how cool it kept you. You might have also left a white t-shirt out in the sun and felt that it was a little warm when you picked it up. If you leave a black t-shirt out in the sun, however, it will feel far hotter when you pick it up. That is because of the way light is absorbed or refracted by different colors.

The darker the color of the t-shirt, the more light the t-shirt will absorb. This is why a dark t-shirt will heat up in the sunlight- it is absorbing the light of the sun. And along with the light of the sun comes the heat of the sun. So, the longer the t-shirt is out in the sunlight, the hotter it’s going to get. A black t-shirt is the darkest color and will therefore get hotter than any other color t-shirt.

A white t-shirt works very differently. The color white actually deflects light and heat away from it. It doesn’t absorb light and heat the way that other colors do. Wearing a white t-shirt will always keep you cooler than wearing a darker-colored one. If you will be outside in the sun for a long time, wearing a white t-shirt is a good way to keep cool. It will probably keep you cooler than if you weren’t wearing a shirt at all.

If you wear a black t-shirt out in direct sunlight for any length of time, especially, if it’s a hot day, you will likely become extremely uncomfortable. If you know you will be in the sun all day for a specific activity, plan ahead by choosing to wear a white t-shirt for the day. Even if the t-shirt doesn’t go as well with the rest of your outfit, it will keep you far more comfortable. After a few hours in the sun in a black t-shirt, you may stop caring about how the outfit looks and wish you had instead chosen the cooler t-shirt.

If you will be outside without water, it’s even more important to make sure that you are wearing a white or light-colored t-shirt. It will cause you to sweat less under the sun and you will lose less of your hydration.

The way that a black t-shirt and a white t-shirt absorb heat and light will also factor into how long it takes each of them to dry. Sweat is produced by the body in order to keep the body cool. But, if you sweat on a hot day in a black t-shirt, that sweat will evaporate quickly- possibly before it even has a chance to cool down your body temperature. In a white t-shirt, however, it will not evaporate as quickly and you will have the benefit of letting it cool you down.