Reflecting the True You, by Bill Powers

Catherine Walter never knew her nose was crooked. "I always thought is went straight down, " says the cultural anthropologist turned entrepreneur. "But I think everyone embellishes what they see n the mirror and mentally filters out some physical flaws."

In an attempt to eliminate such innocent forms of self-deception, her brother John was led to invent the True Mirror, a looking glass that reflects a non-reversed image back to the viewer by seamlessly joining two smaller mirrors at a precise right angle. "People realize that lettering is always backwards," explains Catherine, "but they don't take that little quantum leap and think about how their own image is affected."

By her company's calculations, roughly 80 percent of the people who gaze into the True Mirror are initially "very disconcerted" by their appearance, while a more narcissistic 10 percent really like what h\they see, and another 10 percent don't see any difference at all - usually those viewers with extremely symmetrical features.

Although the Walters' creation has been available by mail since its invention five years ago, the siblings recently opened their first retail store at 43 East First Street in Manhattan's East Village. A 12 x 12 model costs $195 and comes in a handmade hardwood frame painted black, white, or cream. Check out www.truemirror.com and see yourself for the very first time.

Photographer: Todd Holoubek