Red is the sexiest colour - study

Jessica Rabbit, femme fatale in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was a fan of red.

A growing body of research has revealed that women give off signals about the inner workings of their body by the way they dress - and red says "I want sex".

Scientists have discovered that women tend to wear red or pink when they are ovulating - the time of the month that they are at their most fertile - in a bid to attract a mate.

It isn't fully understood why red could attract a mate but there are several hypotheses.

Some say it has to do with the flushing of the face following sex, following the arguement that men's animal brains are awakened when confronted with "some deep primal force", according to a report by Medical Daily.

"It's only recently that psychologists and researchers in other disciplines have been looking closely and systematically at the relationship between colour and behaviour," said Andrew Elliot, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester.

"Much is known about colour physics and colour physiology, but very little about colour psychology.

"It's fascinating to find that something as ubiquitous as colour can be having an effect on our behaviour without our awareness."

Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada surveyed 124 women, asking them the colour of their clothing and how many days it has been since their last period.

They found that women at highest risk of becoming pregnant were substantially more likely to be wearing a red or pink-coloured shirt compared to women at low risk.

Those who wore red or pink were about three times more likely to be at peak fertility than those who wore other colours.

And this female preference for red at certain times of the month is not in vain.

A survey by dating website OkCupid found that women who wear red in their online dating profile photos are more likely to get messages and dates than those wearing any other colour.

A study by the University of Southern Brittany in France, backs up the dating website's findings.

Experts asked 64 women to digitally alter the T-shirt colour in their profile photos every two weeks for a year.

They found that the red tops generated 21 per cent of the total messages, compared with 14 to 16 per cent of messages when the women were wearing black, white, blue, yellow or green.

Researchers from the University of Rochester, New York, have also found that men are more likely to find a woman attractive, are more likely to ask her out, and and are even prepared to spend more money if she is wearing red.

- DAILY MAIL