Stripes can be both a blessing and a curse: they can show off the female figure to its best or ruin it. The secret: it all depends which way the stripes are going. "If you wear horizontal stripes, you'll tend to look shorter," explains personal shopper Sonja Grau. "If they are vertical, then your figure will look as it if has been stretched taller." As a rule of thumb, only slender, taller people should shop for dresses and blouses with wide, loud stripes. "A fuller figure, or a small person, should steer clear of any prominent stripes. Horizontal stripes are a disaster for them," warns Grau. "They can make you look squat and they even highlight weight." But it's a different story with pinstripes. "They flatter the shorter, fuller figure, because they make the wearer look taller," says Grau.