Women buy sexier clothing when ovulating

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- On the handful of days of the month a woman is ovulating, she unconsciously buys sexier clothing to stand out among other women, U.S. researchers found.

Kristina Durante, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, said although the end result is to attract the best romantic partner available, the findings suggest ovulating women's choice of dress is motivated by the other women in their environment.

"The desire for women at peak fertility to unconsciously choose products that enhance appearance is driven by a desire to outdo attractive rival women," Durante said in a statement. "In order to entice a desirable mate, a woman needs to assess the attractiveness of other women in her local environment to determine how eye-catching she needs to be to snare a good man."

The researchers had ovulating women view photographs of attractive women from the local area and then asked them to choose clothing and accessory items that they would buy.

The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, found the majority of the study participants chose sexier products than those who had been shown photographs of unattractive local women or women who lived more than 1,000 miles away.

Durante said the women's choice of sexier clothing is not a conscious decision and non-ovulating women did not buy sexier clothing.