Optical Illusions

Wear Optical Illusions, Get Thin!

 

Kim Kardashian wearing Alexander McQueen's "Optical Illusion dress"

We all know that women prefer clothes which makes them look thin, emphasize their curves and enhance their figure. Spanx pantyhose, Wonderbras… You name it! But come on, no dress is really gonna take ten inches off your waist, or make you look twenty pounds lighter than you really are… Would it? Well, no ORDINARY dress would be able to do that!
But when designers discover fabulous world of optical illusions, and then start playing with such concepts, you’d be amazed what they could do to the female figure… only sky is the limit!
Take the dress on the right for example – simply by adding a well-known optical illusion pattern to the waist, the designer Alexander McQueen suddenly makes any woman wearing his dress appear much thinner in waist than she really is. Not to mention how he successfully reversed the effect in the breasts region, accomplishing curvaceous, hourglass appearance!

Really?! Who Else Does This?

The next dress by Stella McCartney is another extreme example of what optical illusions can do to a woman’s body… Sure, it’s an easy task to emphasize Kim Kardashian’s curves, but what if you’re not as curvaceous?
Using a similar concept that slimmed down Kim in the first image, McCartney’s dress takes the illusion even further – By using a slightly off-white color fabric on the bust, the “shadow effect” makes woman’s breasts appear much larger, immediately putting them in the spotlight (something I’m sure most gentlemen wouldn’t be eager to complain about). But that’s not the only enhancement here!
Kate Winslet premiered Stella McCartney’s dress at the Venice Film Festival, and it was so noticeably figure-altering that it was quickly dubbed “The Optical Illusion Dress” by the press. You can immediately recognize the black-fabric-on-the-sides trick, one that made Kate look like a corset model from the 18th century. An hourglass figure so slim, that when compared to her mortal anatomy, it’s actually shocking…

Frazz’ Optical Illusion Oak Tree

Dunno whether you’ve heard of Frazz or not (I haven’t), but I guess it’s a popular comic in western hemisphere. From what I’ve learned, the comic regularly appears in over 200 newspapers worldwide, including the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune and Detroit News. Invented by Jef Mallett, it follows the adventures of an unexpected role model – an elementary-school janitor who’s also a Renaissance man. While he’s sweeping the hall, he’s whistling Beethoven. Or Lyle Lovett. He paints the woodwork in the classrooms; he paints a Da Vinci on the cafeteria wall. He’s a trusted authority figure who is every kid’s buddy. One such recent comic, included an optical illusion I thought you might like. How long does it take before you see it? Enjoy!

Deep In The Forest…

Karl Kwasny is an Australian illustrator, currently based in Manhattan, New York. Few days ago one of our readers (thanks Neli!) sent me this illustration Karl made, followed by a poem which can be found immediately after the picture. I tend not to post skull illusions that often, probably cause we’ve seen so many, but occasionally such a nice item appears it would be shame had we left it aside. The illusion it hides is quite easy to see, and the story it holds is for you to imagine!

Deep in the forest, where heavy feet sink,
you mightn’t be quite as alone as you think!

Ninja’s Colorful Shuriken Illusion

A shuriken, our word of the day, is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing. They are sharpened hand-held blades made from a variety of everyday items such as nails, knives, washers, and other flat plates of metal. When translated from Japanese, it literally means “sword hidden in the hand”. Here in the west it’s most commonly known as “throwing star”, “ninja star” or inaccurately as “Chinese stars”, though they took many different shapes and designs during the time they were used.
So what does all of this have to do with our latest optical illusion, you ask? Not much except visual similarity, I guess. I just thought it would be cool to mention ninjas and shurikens in the paragraph above. Ok, now let me explain how the illusion works – If you concentrate on the central dot in the animation below, after seeing the first frame consisting of two overlapped colored objects, you get the impression next two frames are showcasing isolated objects filled with appropriate fluorescent color! In reality, all frames except first lack color, and what you perceive as color afterwards is just an afterimage burnt in your retina! Don’t worry though, it only lasts couple of seconds…

Abbey Road Meets Charlie Brown

I’m certain most of you know about The Beatles, and have probably at some point in your life seen the album cover where they walk across the Abbey Road. The original image of the Beatles on the crossing has become one of the most famous and imitated in recording history. One such spoof was recently done featuring the Peanuts’ gang Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, Woodstock, & Marcie. Check it out below! The most interesting part is how the anamorphic chalk drawing appears when seen from a side.
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Freakish Frame Optical Illusion

 

Just by looking at this frame on your right, you would say there is no chance it depicts a perfect rectangle, right? But hang on there for a second! Let me show you what happens if we just remove the wavy frame surrounding the picture… Voila!
The inner picture now becomes a perfect rectangle! Be sure to check the #gif animation attached below for proof. It’s really strange how certain patterns can influence our perception of reality, do you agree?
This illusion was originally produced by Greeenpro2009, and you may see the video of it on Greeen’s youtube channel. I personally adore simple optical illusions (such as this one), specially when done professionally, and in such a visually appealing way. Goood job Greeenpro2009!

Impossible Triangle Vase: 90°

As Freshome first reported, there is a new optical illusion toy in town, more specifically an impossible triangle vase. If you were looking for the perfect vase to match your favorite plant, 90° just may be the winner! Originally designed by Cuatro Cuatros, the product is based on a heavily familiar drawing of an impossible triangle, converted into a geometrical shape with volume. We’ve featured over a dozen such triangles in our impossible objects section, yet and the only problem with this vase -is that it only works when seen from one certain angle.
Depending on the point of view, both ends coincide and make it look like a closed figure. The interposition, orientation and perspective create a contradiction of the space that makes us perceive something that is not. This way, the vase becomes more than just a functional object, turning into a decorative piece that plays with perception. You can place it anywhere inside your home, as its clean, simple shape can pleasantly interfere with both a modern and traditional decor. Just put some water inside the crazy triangle vase and watch how the flower blooms in the company of an awesome optical illusion!

Craig Tracy’s Body Art

Vurdlak has already featured Craig Tracy in the past, along with some of his most incredible body-paint works. In fact, he even named Tracy’s snow leopard image as one of the best optical illusions in 2009. Of course, it’s precisely that amazing level of skill that made me want to display few more images by this amazing artist! So here we go:
“How good is he?”, you may ask. Well, let me put it this way: the image just on the right, if Tracy weren’t such a fantastic body painter, would most certainly be labeled NSFW (*Not Safe For Work). Fortunately, instead you are seeing a gorgeous tiger eye staring at you intensely. If you really want to see what kind of effort goes into creating these exquisite masterpieces, be sure to visit the authors website where you can see an array of photos and videos depicting the creation of these works of art.
In fact, if you are truly inspired by Mr. Tracy’s work, there is even an information on how you can volunteer to become one of his models, thus becoming a part of the creation yourself. Who knows, maybe one of you will be featured on Mighty Optical Illusions one day…
But don’t think for a moment that Tracy’s artwork is solely limited to realistic images of big cats being painted on human canvases. No, his talent ranges from Liu-Bolin-styled camouflage pieces…