Single man spoofs Christmas cards with clever optical illusion

The holiday season can be a challenging time for single people. Whether it’s the steady stream of Christmas cards arriving from happy families, or having to attend a festive feast without a companion, the month of December can be a constant reminder of just how alone some people are.

A single man decided to take on the staged Christmas card genre embraced by some couples by posting a cosy holiday greeting on Twitter.

John Olmstead produced an image that, when zoomed in, looks like two pairs of legs getting close to each other in front of a stack of gifts. But, if you zoom out and view the entire photo, it turns out to be just a guy in a pair of tights and women’s boots, bending forward with jeans on his arms and sneakers on his hands.

The optical illusion is one you have to see to believe.

The caption reads: “The holidays are better with you.”

The 22-year-old man told Mashable that he had seen the trick done by a woman and wanted to recreate it.

“I thought it was hilarious, so I wanted to do it, but my arms are too skinny to look like legs. So, I had to improvise and shove my feet into those tiny boots,” he said in a Dec. 1 article. “I thought it would be funny to wear the girl shoes just to throw people off.”

And here’s a lonely kicker: Olmstead had to use a self-timer to capture the shot.