From Fertile to Frilly
From Fertile to Frilly
That Lace Blouse May Mean Your Gal's in Fertile Phase
Oct. 11, 2006 -- Move over, The Devil Wears Prada. Make way for The Egg Goes Glam.
A new study shows that young women in relationships may dress a bit more enticingly as they reach the ovulation phase of their monthly fertility cycle – the time when they are most fertile.
The 30 college women studied were more likely to wear lace-trimmed tops, skirts instead of pants, and more revealing (though still appropriate) clothes as they neared ovulation, when an egg is released from the ovary.
Researchers included Martie Haselton, PhD, of UCLA, and April Bleske-Rechek, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
The study is due for publication online in Hormones and Behavior.
"Near ovulation, women dress to impress, and the closer women come to ovulation, the more attention they appear to pay to their appearance," Haselton says in a UCLA news release.
"They tend to put on skirts instead of pants, show more skin, and generally dress more fashionably," Haselton adds.
The 30 women in Haselton's study were UCLA undergraduates and 21 years old, on average.
All said they were in relationships, had regular menstrual cycles, and weren't using hormonal contraceptives.
The women took urine tests to gauge where they were in their cycle. They were also photographed twice -- once on a high fertility day and once on a low fertility day.
The women didn't know what the study was about.
The photos weren't glamour shots. The women simply stood in front of the same background both times with their hands at their sides.
From Fertile to Frilly
That Lace Blouse May Mean Your Gal's in Fertile Phase
Oct. 11, 2006 -- Move over, The Devil Wears Prada. Make way for The Egg Goes Glam.
A new study shows that young women in relationships may dress a bit more enticingly as they reach the ovulation phase of their monthly fertility cycle – the time when they are most fertile.
The 30 college women studied were more likely to wear lace-trimmed tops, skirts instead of pants, and more revealing (though still appropriate) clothes as they neared ovulation, when an egg is released from the ovary.
Researchers included Martie Haselton, PhD, of UCLA, and April Bleske-Rechek, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
The study is due for publication online in Hormones and Behavior.
Dressing to Impress
"Near ovulation, women dress to impress, and the closer women come to ovulation, the more attention they appear to pay to their appearance," Haselton says in a UCLA news release.
"They tend to put on skirts instead of pants, show more skin, and generally dress more fashionably," Haselton adds.
The 30 women in Haselton's study were UCLA undergraduates and 21 years old, on average.
All said they were in relationships, had regular menstrual cycles, and weren't using hormonal contraceptives.
The women took urine tests to gauge where they were in their cycle. They were also photographed twice -- once on a high fertility day and once on a low fertility day.
The women didn't know what the study was about.
The photos weren't glamour shots. The women simply stood in front of the same background both times with their hands at their sides.
