When the political landscape is in disarray, austerity is hitting harder than ever before and the news has been relentlessly bad, we could do with a little lightness in our lives.

Step forward, a fresh and deliciously eccentric new trend that’s captured the imagination of the Instagram crowd.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen more and more people post snaps of themselves dressed in self-styled “watermelon dresses”.

While dogs and babies are ripe for the optical illusion trick, it seems a load of grown-ups are getting in on the action, too.

Watermelon dresses: the juicy new trick holding Instagram in thrall