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Chris de Burgh found her irresistible, and now scientists say that ladies wearing red really are more attractive to men.

A new study claims that wearing the colour increases a woman's sex appeal and also makes her seem more approachable and competent.

It says that women also find red attractive on men – but the effect isn't as powerful.

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A new study claims that wearing red increases a woman's sex appeal and also makes her seem more approachable and competent. Here, Scarlett Johansson (left) and Kim Kardashian (right) wear eye-catching red dresses on the red carpet

Psychologists at Central China Normal University, in Wuhan, China, showed 280 heterosexual students 32 pictures of the opposite sex and asked them to rate them according to how attractive they found them.

The people in the photos were wearing either blue, white or red. 

Male students found 'feminine' women wearing red the most attractive and also rated them highest for looking 'warm' and competent. 

The study says that women also find red attractive on men – but the effect isn't as powerful. Justin Bieber is pictures in a bright red jacket

'The colour red was shown to have a boosting effect on the sexual attractiveness of women with feminine facial traits,' lead author Dr Fangfang Wen wrote in the study, published in the journal, Evolutionary Psychology.

'In addition, regardless of sexual dimorphism cues, male participants rated women with red as warmer and more competent.'

She suggests that by choosing red, women are reflecting their sexual intentions 'from the beginning'.

Scientists from the University of British Columbia in Canada last year claimed 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.

Red has been associated with romance, passion, lust and fertility across nearly every long-standing civilisation, while previous research claimed its effect in enhancing sexual attraction suggests 'higher sexual opportunity for males'.

This study says that red clothing also has a 'marginally significant effect on men's sexual attractiveness'. 

This may be because red can indicate higher status in some vertebrates and females evolve to prefer males that are high in status to provide for their babies.

However, the study found that wearing too much red can make women think that men could be aggressive – taking cues from nature, when animals' and people's faces redden to denote anger.

 

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'The colour red was shown to have a boosting effect on the sexual attractiveness of women with feminine facial traits,' lead author Dr Fanfang Wen wrote in the study, published in the journal, Evolutionary Psychology. Here, Jennifer Aniston is pictured at the Oscars in a floor-sweeping red dress