Why does wearing dark clothing sometimes make people look thinner?

Answer: Dark colors absorb light and reduce apparent size

Dark colors absorb light and reduce apparent size ✓ — Correct! Dark colors absorb more light than light colors, making objects appear smaller or thinner. This is because the human visual system uses shading and contrast to judge shape and size. A darker area is perceived as receding or having less volume. This effect is known as the 'dark clothing effect' and is a small but measurable bias in size perception.

Dark clothing compresses the body physically — Wrong. Dark clothing does not physically compress the body. The effect is purely visual, based on how our brains interpret light and shadow. No physical change occurs to the body or clothing.

Dark colors trick the camera into distorting shapes — Wrong. While camera settings can affect how dark colors appear, the effect is not primarily due to camera distortion. It is a perceptual phenomenon that occurs even in direct viewing, as demonstrated in controlled luminance experiments.