Out with the spanx! The latest in the slimming business is the dark stripe running down the side of your outfit.

It`s no rocket science but optical illusion and it has caught the fancy of Hollywood A-listers like Miranda Kerr and Melanie Griffith. Such is the craze that a British retail chain has been compelled to launch a £16 version of a pair of beige denims with a black panel running down its sides. The advantage? Your legs look slimmer and elongated. The panels are cheekily used in problem areas like the obliques and inner thighs too — women`s major gripes when it comes to their shapes. The gals ain`t complaining!

These dresses aren`t something new. If Kate Winslet`s red-hot Stella McCartney at the Carnage premiere in Paris rings a bell, that`s exactly what we`re talking about. She had earlier donned a white version of the illusion shift at the Venice Film Festival. If the dark panel is not up your alley, you can also camouflage your bulges in barber-pole stripes. Alternatively, patterns help create the illusion of curves where there are none.

Ever wondered how pencil-thin celebs like Victoria Beckham and Jennifer Aniston get away with it? Clever cut-outs at the right places also add meat to a thin frame and enhance those already blessed with killer S-curves. Check out Kim Kardashian`s. A word of caution, though: Cut-outs are not for the faint-hearted, read, those with love handles!

BDST: 1609 HRS, Nov-24, 2013