What colors do you see when you look at this ^^ dress? That simple question has led to some scorched-earth arguments, even in celebrity circles. In this photo, I see white (or off-white) and gold. CB says she thinks it’s pale blue and gold. But some people think it’s blue and black. Really? In any case, the debate has gone way beyond viral and celebrities are debating it on Twitter. Here are some random celeb tweets:
“@bjnovak: white and gold”. ARE YOU INSANE
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) February 27, 2015
If that's not White and Gold the universe is falling apart. Seriously what is happening????
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) February 27, 2015
I don't understand this odd dress debate and I feel like it's a trick somehow.
I'm confused and scared.
PS it's OBVIOUSLY BLUE AND BLACK
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) February 27, 2015
What color is that dress? I see white & gold. Kanye sees black & blue, who is color blind?
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 27, 2015
THE DRESS IS WHITE AND GOLD and the fact that I don't see any black in it is making me NUTS
— Kat Dennings (@OfficialKat) February 27, 2015
It's obviously #whiteandgold
— Marie Claire (@marieclaire) February 27, 2015
So what was this? Just a simple Tumblr question that was innocently posed and happened to go viral? Or was this some kind of complicated social experiment? I have no idea. All I know is that I like Anna Kendrick more for saying it’s white and gold. And I don’t know how to feel about Mindy Kaling’s freak out about it being black and blue.
Reddit also had a debate about why people were seeing such wildly different colors, and the discussion was surprisingly substantive. It’s about how our brain processes colors and poorly-lit photos, maybe.
Also: WTF is this?
Thank you all for taking part in my 'white and gold' 'black and blue' dress experiment. Read on for info. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/44Jb00FAno
— BradTheLadLong (@BradTheLadLong) February 27, 2015
Photos courtesy of Tumblr, WENN.
Yep, it is white and gold!
Nope, it’s blue and black.
Yep. and for me it never deviated, although I could alter contrast light, saturation and hue. But this is a phenomenon that occurs everyday and why witnesses can be so terrible. The eyes scan a scene, especially in the peripheral, and the brain ‘completes’ the imagery or story. It’s a function of survival in terms of recognizing danger and acting appropriately to flight or flight. If you had to take the time to fill every scene by examining each tiny piece, individually, that you walk past, without some degree of filling the blanks in your mind, you would have been eaten by a tiger ages ago.
I think people are combining the high contrast gold and white in the background with their ‘minds eye’ as a completion of the photo.
And this http://www.pantone.com/pages/Pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=19357&ca=29
Red, green and blue are the additive primary colors of the color spectrum. Combining balanced amounts of red, green and blue lights also produces pure white….The human eye can perceive more variations in warmer colors than cooler ones. This is because almost 2/3 of the cones process the longer light wavelengths (reds, oranges and yellows).
About 8% of men and 1% of women have some form of color impairment. Most people with color deficiencies aren’t aware that the colors they perceive as identical appear different to other people. Most still perceive color, but certain colors are transmitted to the brain differently.
I only see dark blue & jet black.
It’s blue and black http://sploid.gizmodo.com/this-is-the-real-color-of-that-goddamn-white-and-gold-d-1688381523
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/weird-news/what-colour-is-the-dress-white-and-gold-or-blue-and-black-an-eyewitness-gives-a-definitive-answer-10074553.html
That explains it, D. Thanks for those links!
Thank GOD you posted the proof that I am not going crazy, lol!
I am very sensitive to colors & this was maddening to say the least! Man i am relieved, i thought i was losing my sight for a hot minute! Phew. 🙂
I’ve seen the real pictures of the dress as a black and blue dress but no matter how any times I look at the first photo is is always white and gold! My brain will always be stuck there I guess
I stared out a very bright window. It’s very sunny right now. Then I looked at the dress again. I can see the blue now after having burned by eyes for a bit.
Oh, thank you! Reading the explanation that I must be seeing black and blue because of some negative event happening to me was making me crazy! I can’t get a hint of gold or white in the picture. So happy I’m not repressing some horrible thing!
I thought white and gold too, at least at first, but then I saw the dress in proper lighting (like in the links D posted above) and it’s actually blue and black…now that’s all I see.
Just goes to show how bad lighting can really make a difference with what we see.
Somebody is playing tricks here because I came back in and now it is blue and black!
Gold and white until I looked at the links above and now all I can see is blue and black!
I thought it was white and gold when I saw it on another site last night. And then I saw the dress on yet another site this morning and thought it was definitely blue and black. Where is the original posted?
I just love how this is a big debate, though! We could all use a soft “news” story like this once in a while.
I don’t understand how anyone can see black on that dress.
When I first look at it after sleeping on it or just seeing it it was while and gold. Scroll down and then back up and it’s suddenly dark blue and black. It’s a image trick on how we see colors I take it.
Oh my god, I saw a color-corrected photo where it was clearly black and blue and then when I scrolled back to the original photo it was black and blue instead of white and gold!!!! So creepy!!!
@Dawn,
LOL! Last night my daughter came to me freaking out about this, at the time I saw blue & black. She was aghast. This morning, I see white(or powder blue?) & gold. After reading the explanation linked to twitter, I realized my multifocal contact lenses are tinted just the tiniest bit blue to facilitate getting them out of their packages, and having worn them last night but not this morning was likely the reason for my particular variance. Fun stuff!
Never mind. The experiment guy is a fake.
I still see white and gold.
IT’S BLUE AND BLACK 😱
I only EVER saw white and gold. The shadow it’s in doesn’t make the bright so white, but that’s white and gold.
WHATS GOING ON WITH YOU BLACK AND BLUE PEOPLE!?
ETA: Ok I just saw those links, but I still only see white and gold!
Blue retinal cones are just more active/sensitive, that’s all.
I ONLY SEE WHITE AND GOLD EVEN AFTER THE LINKS I KNOW I’M SHOUTING BUT WHAT IS GOING ON THERE IS NO BLACK AND BLUE?????!!! HELP! AM I GOING CRAZY???
I see white and gold in the large picture but the smaller pictures or the thumbnail ones I see the blue and black. This is the oddest damn thing.
I think it’s the lighting of where u personally are that affects it. At home it was blue and black, now that I’m in fluorescent lighting it’s white and gold.
The OP posted another picture of the dress on the blog and its originally blue and black, you can see it on the website too (I heard people are actually trying to buy that fugly dress???).
I’m not sure who wrote that scientific post but the OP said she doesn’t know him. I guess he just did that for attention
White and gold two days in a row. others have problems
Pale blue and gold. Plus, monitor colour calibration is probably to blame for people seeing different things.
Definitely white and gold! But if I tilt my iPhone sideways eventually I can see blue and black.
This is so insane to me. So we know that the dress is actually white and gold. And in the picture it just looks like a white and gold dress in a shadow. It makes me crazy that anyone could see blue and black, lol!
+1
I totally see blue and black – not pale blue, a deep azure insanity blue. Oh. My. God.
AAAAHHHH!!!! I just showed this to my husband and he ALSO only sees blue & black. What is happening in the world!?!!?
What? I only see the palest of blues, like the shadow effect that GiGi described, and gold. No black whatsoever.
GiGi I think people are messing with us!
Right, Esmom? I yelled at my husband just now, lol! I was incredulous!
IT’S BLUE AND BLACK.
I’m not even kidding when I say that the people who claim to see white and gold are just f*cking with all of us.
COME AT ME. I DON’T CARE.
I see blue and black, too, and we’re right. 😉 The store confirmed it.
My husband I also see black and blue but my sisters see white and gold.
My sister showed it to me on her mobile phone. I saw it as white and gold in her her room. Then we went into the kitchen, showed the same picture on the same phone to my mum and she saw it as white and golod but I now see it as black and blue,
Last night, I thought it was clearly white and gold. Then I started looking at it from different angles and it changed in front of my eyes to blue and black. Now I can’t see white and gold at all! Like, I don’t understand how I ever saw white and gold. Our brains can do some crazy things yall.
I thought this article explained it well:
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/
“Light enters the eye through the lens—different wavelengths corresponding to different colors. The light hits the retina in the back of the eye where pigments fire up neural connections to the visual cortex, the part of the brain that processes those signals into an image. Critically, though, that first burst of light is made of whatever wavelengths are illuminating the world, reflecting off whatever you’re looking at. Without you having to worry about it, your brain figures out what color light is bouncing off the thing your eyes are looking at, and essentially subtracts that color from the “real” color of the object. “Our visual system is supposed to throw away information about the illuminant and extract information about the actual reflectance,” says Jay Neitz, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington. “
so essentially, those that see white and gold have brains that think the blue is only from shadow and poor lighting, so it subtracts blue and determines white and gold.
I clearly saw white and gold last night, and looking at the exact same photo (same post on facebook) I see blue and black this morning. My brain is so so confused.
Really GNAT? U see the azure blue??
NOW IM SCARED 😩
Saw the links and it’s white and gold! I can’t even try to see how the white is blue. Not even a pale blue.
My reality is crumbling.
I’m honestly confused as to how anyone is seeing blue and black. This is one big internet prank, right? Someone needs to let me in on this and say it is because no way is that blue and black. No Way!
@Kitten,
LOL! See my comment buried in 1. above regarding me seeing it both ways; contacts in then our yielded different results for me.
If anyone feels like tripping out with eye tricks, here is a website that has a lot of them! CRAZY STUFF! 😀
http://brainden.com/color-illusions.htm
OK!
Got a 2nd and 3rd and 4th opinion. we’re in the same lighting viewing the image on the same screen.
I see white/gold. Another sees white and gold. Another sees charcoal and blue while the last sees black and blue.
I’m at a loss for words and my friends are now angry and having panic attacks on visual perception. Aaannd now the Matrix is part of the discussion. Great.
A photog friend posted versions of the photo with the white corrected to show what it really looks like (white and gold) and then where thecolor was darkened to the point that it was black and blue. It was actually very interesting to see them side by side. It looks like the original image is really poorly lit.
ABC news and CNN say the real dress is black and blue. Sooooo…what the hell is the real color??? Last night right before bed it looked white and gold, today, black and blue. Sooooooooo weird!!
The dress is blue and black in real life. http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/02/27/intv-bastock-dress-color-controversy.cnn
I saw white and gold last night. An hour later, it looked black and blue 🙁
Now it depends on the angle of my phone screen. There’s a big explanation of the way our eyes interpret colors.
This is how crazy I am… I don’t even believe the links of the dress in royal blue and black could possibly be this same dress. At all.
I work with Photoshop in my day job – and, yes, you could definitey play with changing the colors easily enough… but to say that the color of this dress would change that drastically on white balance alone? Insanity!
I cannot fathom anybody saying it’s blue and black. What the hail?! White + gold to the ends of the earth!
At first I couldn’t see anything but white and gold, but now I definitely see blue and black. Really bad exposure.
I instantly said white and gold in shadow. (edit, turns out the first photo I saw was the lightened one).
But I’ve now seen about 4 or 5 different versions of the photo, and some clearly looked blue.
Me too, I saw one last night that looked black and blue and when I look at it today it still looks black and blue by the one on here looks white and gold and still does everytime I look. Neither have changed color for me. I think it depends on the source you are seeing the picture from.
Me too, how is there any black in that photo? Is this a social experiment or a prank? The dress is white and gold. What is going on?
This is so upsetting! And it’s funny how upsetting it is! Okay- white & gold = genius, right? 🙂
The dress is actually blue and black
We were having big discussions about this at the office too – I saw white and gold, my colleagues saw blue and black. A perfect procrastination activity on a Friday afternoon. Because really, in the end, all I really know is that it’s kind of an ugly dress.
Black and blue, do NOT fight me on this.
White and Gold!
*ducks*
In all seriousness I’ve seen several versions of this picture. Judging from the backround in the pics it’s tough to tell. I just cannot see anything, but white and gold. We’re all going off of the pic above too, right? Like everyone has their screens set to normal saturation and it’s the picture above?
Someone tried to show how lighting changes the dress but i STILL saw black and blue! Maybe i’m aging 60 years into the future….
Same here! I’m getting so annoyed that people are still insisting that it’s white and gold, when the actual dress is actually blue IRL. I clearly need to get a hobby, since this is annoying me!
Well I totally see black and blue, or actually periwinkle and charcoal!
Periwinkle and charcoal. Exactly.
Although the “charcoal” color effect is probably from the light washing out the black.
I see robin’s egg and chocolate brown. WTF?
me too. it’s frustrating to see only white/gold or black/blue being discussed as the right colour…
What?? It’s blue and black, though I can tell it’s actually goldish at the top. Am I having a major event? Yes! I’m having a hysterectomy in three weeks. I’m nervous. I’m sad. I’m seeing colors that aren’t there! I’m freaking out, I’m not kidding y’all.
haha don’t freak out! I think it’s something about the way your eyes adapt when there is an image that is badly lit. For most of the day when people would bring it up, I saw white and gold. Then I went to get a cup of tea. When I came back, it was blue and black for a bit, then back to white and gold.
And good luck with the surgery! It is a major event indeed *sending hugs*
Oh, @GOOD!! It will be okay, You will do fine. Just be extra kind to yourself, and think of all the reading and Netflixing of your choice you can do. I thought the dress was white and gold, but when I looked again, I thought it could be the palest blue and gold. Then I was like “Lighting, dumbass”, and like Elsa, I let it go. After all, it’s just a dress.PS-just think of all the beige booty shorts, left sharks, and runaway llama memes you can make while recovering!
Hey GoodNames
You reminded me of an evening in my teens when we all scared each other witless with the realisation that we can never know how others perceive colours: we may agree something is ‘orange’, but may each see something different. Somehow we felt suddenly in terrifying freefall in Outer Space over this!
Best wishes for your op: my sister has always said hers was the gateway to a life of freedom and joie de vivre. She’s a new woman. 🙂
My mom says the same about hers !
We’re with you GNAT 😀
That’s exactly what I felt like, WardLittle!
GNAT! Good luck with surgery.
I’m sending you a care package containing several boxes of Cheez-Its and a stack of comfy muumuus to ensure a smooth post-recover period.
Ugh! I have never spent this much time looking at an ugly dress.
It must be a Marchesa.
GNAT – Sending all my positive energy your way!
Oh no, GoodNames, I hate to think of you nervous and sad. It is a major event, but I’m sure it will go smoothly. Wishing you all the best and a speedy recovery.
Oh, thank you everybody, so much for the positive thoughts. It will be good to have it done, and I’ll take your sweet thoughts and good wishes with me.
You’ll be A-OK GNAT 😀
And just think of how much weight you’ll lose on that scale 😉
Still, best wishes!
Gnat! You’re going to do awesome!
Good luck GNAT! Don’t be nervous, you will do great!
Best wishes for a full and fast recovery, GNAT. Hope to hear you are feeling much better, SOON.
Hope you have a speedy recovery GNAT. Sending light and love your way.
Just wanted to wish you well with your surgery and say be sure you rest A LOT afterwards!!! I had one at age 36 (7 yrs ago) and man, the surgery part wasn’t too horrible but I was exhausted for the entire 6 weeks. You will have days when you feel like you can run a marathon so you get up and take care of things around the house that have taken a backseat during recovery. Don’t do that. LOL!! I am sending you positive vibes and know you will feel great! It was life-changing for me, in a good way. Let people pamper you for 6 weeks!! You deserve it!!! <3
I vote to stock up on lots of yummy snacks, good pain killers & binge watch some tv shows (I heard the one w/ Kevin Spacey was good to watch back to back). Sorry that you have to go through this! My mom said as other posters here- she missed her uterus until it was out & she feels so much better (hormones, etc). Here is to a fast, speedy recovery!
Good luck on the surgery and a speedy and easy recovery! I enjoy reading your comments here.
Sending you best wishes for a speedy recovery! Hugs!!!!
Yeah right to that guys scienfic explaination. Let’s see the research. I think it might have more to do with screen resolution and perception of color from individual to individual.
In this pic it’s white and gold, when the photo was published on a news papers website it was clearly black and blue
1. Who cares?
2. Based on the crap photo, it is white and gold. But if you play around with it on Photoshop or any other software you can make it blue/black.
3. The fact that this story made the damn news means it was either a slow news day or we are reaching for straws as a society. Enough with the 15 minutes of fame.
And the #askhermore hashtag falls apart…………
I think this photo (not the dress, the photo of the dress) hit that sweet spot where our brains treat it differently. People care because it is a demonstration of a unique function in our brains.
Exactly. The science behind it is fascinating.
And also, M.A.F. you’re absolutely wrong-it IS BLUE AND BLACK.
I have only seen it as a deep blue and charcoal black. I have looked at it from various places. O.o it just boggles!
#3
I think the dress story became so huge because people are desperate for a break from the horrors that fill our screens day in and day out. Latching on to the dress debate is a fun/welcome break from stress.
Courtney Enlow re-tweeted the solution: https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/571142815427661824
Ok, so at dinner tonight 1 person said black and white, 2 people said blue and black and 8 people said gold and white. All looked at the same pic on the same device ( my phone)
I think it’s viral marketing, and doctors are going to announce that anyone who sees blue and black needs to go to an optometrist.
It’s white and gold!!!
Its actually blue and black. I read somewhere that those who see it as white and gold just have less sensitive to light, so they have poor vision or something like that.
My eyes are very sensitive to light (sunlight anyhow) and I see gold and white darn it! At most I can agree with those pale blue and gold viewers
Edit* I checked out one of the links, crossed my eyes (no joke) and can see pale blue and black but once my eyes uncross I see white and gold. And I do not believe that the bright blue and black dress in the ad is the same dress. Nu-uh, no way. This is crazy fun.
My eye sight is awesome.
In the southpaw tweet link i clearly saw the blue and charcoal, but only there.
Here the dress is simply white and gold to me.
i’m confused.
i watched a news report which said that the dress is blue and black.
who is this bradthelad person saying it’s white and gold and his experiment?
did the pic originate with him?
why are news reports claiming the dress is blue and black.
BTW – i see icy light blue and gold as well…
No, the pictures didn’t originate with them. The dress is really blue and black (and it is now sold out!)
What? No. The brand behind this dress has come forward and said the dress is blue and black, not white and gold. They have hinted a white and gold version will be available soon.
Whoever claims this was an experiment is not telling the truth.
I only see blue and black. I thought it was confirmed by the dress makers that is was in fact a blue and black dress. How is it white and gold?!?!
this is NOT the same picture that’s been floating around.
cause the 1st pic I saw of this SAME dress was deff cobalt BLUE and BLACK lace.
this is a diff pic and its kinda pissing me off.
It is definitively gold and blue. No black, no white.
I see blue and gold too. So does my daughter.
Coming back to this thread i’m now seeing blue and gold too. The white is certainly appearing more blue.
Given the fact that we’re seeing the blasted thing on millions of different screens, you’d hope some bright spark has printed off a copy onto photographic paper, and subjected that, with no unreliable brightness readings possible, to a selection of viewers to assess!
😉
Okay that Brad Long post is total BS. The person who actually posted the dress on tumblr has said that the dress is black and blue. And posted a better picture where you can clearly see the color.
It’s about light reflection and refraction-not your mood.
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/
The OG dress is black and blue http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/dress-doxed#.yc8Y5V1deD
Ok but there was just some person claiming to be wearing the dress on TV and it was black and blue.
I see white and gold when I look at the original.
Which one is the “original” that people keep talking about? Is that the picture that is posted here, in the thread?
This is making me nuts.
I seriously don’t understand how anyone sees anything other than white and gold. Like, I truly don’t see it.
I only see blue and black. Can’t for the life of me see white and gold. There are pics of the dress out there with a dark background, try that. It should influence you to see the real colors,
I looked at the same picture last night and this morning. I’m sure its the same picture because it was the same post on facebook. I saw white and gold last night and blue and black this morning. I find this all very unsettling, haha
In the morning it was white and gold, and I thought that anyone thinking it’s black and blue is colorblind and insane. Now everything I see, watching the same picture with the same lighting and device, is black and blue. LOL , CRAZY
My husband sees blue and black. Mind blown.
So do I. My son however, sees white and gold. It was quite the discussion.
I see blue and black and I stayed up an extra hour last night because I couldn’t stop thinking about this! I sent the same screenshot to friends and family and almost all see white and gold, I don’t understand how this is possible and it makes me feel weird inside.
Is this a trick? I mean really. This HAS to be a trick. Is someone posting different pics?
The dress is so clearly blue and black. CLEARLY.
Exactly! Someone could put a gun to my head and I’d still swear this dress is blue and black, not even a hint of white or gold.
I did notice that in one pic where they showed a “white balance correction” that there was lace on the jacket, where there wasn’t in the original. So I think there is some other fake pics going around.
I am AMAZED people see black and colbalt blue at ALL. I’ve seen screenshot of the dress- and yes- it’s black and blue. But that dress is white and gold. I’m baffled.
How can you see black and blue???? The dress is white and gold. What. is. going. on??????
How can YOU see white and gold?
I can do this all day, sister.
Not kidding: I just saw both, white and gold first (even though I saw a pic of the same dress just two hours before and it was clearly black and blue), then scrolled down and up again and it was BLACK AND BLUE! It’s really creepy… but it apparently has something to do with how our brain interprets colors in context…
At fist I thought white and gold but now I think it’s a pale blue and gold. It could also be a pale lavender and gold. Buuuuttttt…right now I’m using my phone close to sunlight it looks like it could be pale blue and black! WFT?
Conclusion in certain lights it’s blue and gold, in direct sunlight it’s blue and black.
I SEE DEAD PEOPLE!
LOL! You win.
*runs in circles! flapping arms and screaming*
Einhorn is Finkle! Finkle IS Einhorn!
Ahhhhhhhhh
I see Keyser Soze!
The dress that pictured in the CB post is pale blue blue and gold.
I see white/gold when I scroll past it and blue/black when I scroll back up
That happened to me too.
Same. It is quite freaky actually.
I saw pale blue and gold. It’s not really a great mystery why people see it differently. For one thing, the lighting sucks in that photo. Secondly, we all perceive things differently. Look up experiments about how eye witness accounts of the exact same incident broadly differ, it’s fascinating! My favorite class when I was in college was the psychology of perception. My husband and I often disagree about the colors of things. Especially the colors blue and black.
I think it’s a very pale blue and a gold/tan color. My husband and I always argue about blue and purple.
This whole thing is total BS. I’ve seen it both ways – black and blue, and white and gold. There are TWO VERSIONS of the dress. Not an uncommon occurrence in fashion (particularly in bad fashion such as this).
Hey Izzy. Can you post a link to the white and gold version of this dress?
Because I googled and all the images I saw of this dress were black and blue. DEFINITIVELY.
The company said they do not make a white and gold version. They do make a white and black version, but this dress is cobalt and black.
I thought about that as a possibility too, but I took a screenshot and made sure I showed the same picture to everyone, only other person saw blue and black like I did. The retina theory is the only realistic one to me, but either way it’s still fun to debate!
OK, if they don’t make a gold and white one, then:
1) This is an epic Photoshop fail; and,
2) They should not make it in gold and white. They should not have made it in blue and black either. I mean, can we all at least agree that this is fugly fashion?
Hell yes we can agree on that! It’s ugly in any color:)
Where is Ben Goldacre, to decry the cod science here? If our minds can express inner misery like this, there would have been no need for The Stones to write ‘Paint it Black’, when clearly there was. (#jagger/richards/wisdom). 😉
Apparently it’s a substractive/additive mixing thing. Huh.
PS: White & Gold!
From the first time I looked at it, all I’ve seen is a dark blue dress with black lace. Poorly lit, or with some kind of filter, but still a dark blue dress with black lace.
Who cares? Its hideous and needs to be burned.
Ha! Your comment reminds me of this…
http://weheartit.com/entry/group/20342403
Sometimes white, sometimes blue.
But always gold.
How does anybody see black instead of gold? Some kind of eye physiology or whatever?
The fabric to the left of the dress contains black and I just can’t see the same shade in the left-side fabric and the gold on the dress.
Yes! I don’t understand how ANYONE sees black in it. It looks like a mustard color to me. Black is the darkest color, that wasn’t.
The link above is a hoax. The store who makes the dress actually commented on it – it’s blue and black. The different color perception is due to how our brains read color and light.
(Honestly, I never saw the white and gold beyond an obvious trick of the light. The light itself is a dead give away – a lighter fabric should reflect more of it, not absorb the light.)
It changes colors when I look at it. The bodice generally looks white and gold to me more often while the skirt looks blue or black if I only look at part of the dress. But sometimes the dress definitely looks either white/gold or blue/black. It’s weird when the color changes right before my eyes because they are drastically different color schemes.
My twin! You described exactly how I see the dress — bodice looking white/gold, while seeing black/blue at the skirt. And yes, the color also changes before my eyes that I feel like I am watching the Wizard of Oz.
It’s black and blue. The company has said black and blue. People who have actually seen it in real life have said black and blue. In the original photo it’s obviously black and blue.
Also, in the colour boxes beside the dress online you can see that the dress isn’t even available in white and gold.
I had a full eye exam this morning. My eyes are healthy if a bit short sighted. I am very very very unstressed.
That pic is white and gold!
With the light illuminating the dress, I see white and gold. When I cover the light and just look at a strip down the middle, I see blue and black. Also, the designer of the dress says blue and black.
It’s black and blue, what are people smoking?
Somehow I managed to miss this last night (no internet for me last night) and I wake up this morning to find out the internet went nuts last night! Haha.
I saved the photo and opened it in Photoshop, and then I used the eyedropper tool to pick out colors from sections. The “blue” really is blue. The “black” is dark shades of brown.
I just saw the white version too! Around an hour and a half after I saved the blue one. I saved the picture. BUT When I opened it in Photoshop, it was BLUE again. WTF
But I’m still not buying the emotional mumbo jumbo explanation, because we’re talking about a span of less than 2 minutes where absolutely nothing has happened to me emotionally.
I want to know what fucking light they are using to almost literally reverse the colors. I understand the real dress is black and blue but I don’t believe (not calling them liars, just my brain cannot compute) people looking at the photo don’t see White and Gold because the light effect or whatever has taken place and is captured by the photo, no?
God, I wish I paid more attention in science. It is science right and not some psychological test? 🙂
No matter what I do, I see white and gold…
The dress is black and blue in reality and I see only black an blue. It was proven that it’s blue. People who see white and gold filtered the blue out of the picture in their head.
Oh, for crying out loud. The fact that people are wasting so much time debating this inane sh** is exactly what’s wrong with the world today.
(P.S. The dress is orange and green)
Exactly. And Science tells us that orange and green cancel each other out, in nine cats out of ten, so most puppies will see a pink latex dress, whereas a llama doesn’t give a damn either way.
Hahahaha. Okay you win the Internet today.
I bow to you Ward Littell. LMAO!!
I’m completely flummoxed how anyone can think that dress is white. All I see, in every picture, is blue! But I’m not sure about the black, though, it might be gold.
same here – how can anyone see white?
Me too Lucky. I thought I was going crazy ’cause almost everybody is seeing white and I’m not.
When I opened this thread, it looked gold and white. I read a bit, then scrolled back to look at it again. Now it is blue and black.
This is really disturbing.
Same thing happened to me LOL.
Pale bluish-white and gold……I can’t see any black and it is driving me mad!
Regardless of what color the dress is in “real life”, it’s a total crap photo. People need to not back light their pics when color is an issue. Seriously.
As for what color the dress is in the photo, there are a few interesting posts around the web where the photo was edited to pic out swatches of the colors in the photo. It’s comprised of a sort of periwinkle and an ochre color. So really we’re all inferring different colors from what’s actually on the screen.
I looked at this for HOURS this morning (don’t judge – bad insomnia) and then looked again a couple of minutes ago. Earlier, I could only see white/gold for the life of me- and now I’m able to see the blue black (thought it’s harder for me to see). The gold reflects like black would under warm lights in an odd way.
So interesting to realize we all see so differently!
As one who sees the dress as gold & white. I told friends last night it’s science.. (Or health if you’d rather & OUR eyes based on retina & sensitivity). This morning most news sights say the same thing. Oh & Yes, dress is Black & dark blue.
http://www.businessinsider.com/science-of-the-blue-and-black-white-and-gold-dress-2015-2
Looks white and gold to me. I think I see how someone could see it as blue and black if they’re viewing it on a smaller screen, a dimly lit screen, or maybe even in a dark area.
I only see white and gold no matter how many times I look at this picture. The colors don’t change with lighting or device I use. All the 4 coworkers on my team see white and gold. I have a theory that terribly near sighted like myself (I am as blind as a bat, my contact prescription is at about -6.5 and -7.0) cannot see the blue and black because our eyes process color differently. All my coworkers wear glasses too. My sister who has nearly perfect vision sees blue and black. Roommate who wears glasses also only sees white and gold. I know the real dress is blue and black but I can’t see those colors and nobody can convince me otherwise!
I am basically blind without my glasses and all I see.is blue and black. So weird!
I have a picture here that I cannot add to my comment.. anyone remember the movie Liar Liar with Jim Carey? The part where he is trying to say the pen is RED… after a bit of turmoil and inked face.. he pops up from behind the desk and says.. “The pen is blue, he pen is blueeee!!!” in a totally funny psychotic voice.. lmao!!
Lilac (blue) and gold. I can see gold being black if this pix wasn’t overexposed, but I definitely do not see white.
Pale blue and goldish-brown. That’s what I see. I’ve scrolled up and down and looked at it from several angles and I’m definitely not seeing any white and or black.
I saw white and gold.
Then I focused for awhile, and it changed to blue and black (Like Magic eye!)
Also if you tilt your screen (mine’s a laptop); it shifts colours.
Also the polyester fabric might reflect light oddly.
I can’ t for the life of me see blue and black in this partcular pic. When i saw the one with the fixed exposure i clearly saw that the dress is in fact blue and black but i can’t understand how people saw the true colours in this particular pic. What confused me even more are people who say that for them the colour changed after a while. I’m trying to see black and blue in this pic but nope, just white and gold
Scroll up at a pretty fast speed and it is blue and black, but otherwise it is white and gold.
Ok I see blue and gold….
Okay, originally, I saw the dress as white and gold. I’m on my cell phone btw. I turned my phone at another angle, and the dress then appeared blue and black! And now even coming back to look at the image. It now looks blue and black, and then it seems to fade, and appear white and gold again. This is so weird!!! Love the debate though. It’s like playful fun.
Same happened with me. It was white and gold on my phone and black and black on the laptop. I even held them up side by side and got the same result.
I finally have something in common with Taylor Swift. I am confused and scared. :::Jaye sits in a corner hugging herself and rocking back and forth:::
For the record, I initially saw white and gold. Then I thought that maybe the dress was light blue and gold, but never at any time did I see black. Welp…back to hugging myself and rocking.
ssshhh…there now there now, just take your medication and you’ll feel much better, sshhh….
THE DRESS IS GOLD AND WHITE!!!
where am i?
If by “medication” you mean a vodka and cranberry juice cocktail, I’m on it. 😉
At first, I saw it gold and white (last night). Then I saw it black and blue, and I can only briefly see it in gold and white now. When I first opened this story, it was gold and white again, but then it quickly went to black and blue.
It’s an eye perception thing. The end.
I see a dark, cobalt blue and black. I’ve seen multiple pictures and cannot see the white/gold. I was wondering how anyone could debate this.
But the dress is DEFINITELY blue and black.
http://www.tmz.com/2015/02/27/the-dress-blue-black-white-gold-sales-color/
I only see deep blue and black [almost a cobalt blue really] but I can tell that the lighting is cr*p making the blue look washed out. And there are gold tinges in the black, so you can see that sort of coppery shimmer to it, BUT I have no idea how anyone sees white, or white and gold. At all. The lighting tricks the eye, I guess, or maybe the background items do, as well. Also, we are very used to scanning things quickly in this modern high tech world. Still, I’m confused as to how peopel think it’s white and gold and are so adamant about it. And why in this OP, the guy says ppl seeing black and blue are having a big negative event of some sort, altering their perception lol
I guess he is perhaps the one experiencing that, in the end, b/c dress ain’t gold and white. lol.
I know it is supposed to be black and blue, but I still see white and gold. But when you look at the background of that picture, you can tell that the coloring is off. Everything is supper bright in the background and looks way off.
I stared at it and I still got a kind of lavendery-chicory blue and a kind of olive-ish, brownish black.
Weird, eh?
Periwinkle and black? I don’t see white and gold. That’s just weird.
Ok, when I first clicked on this story, I saw a white and gold or tan dress. Now, I scroll back up to the picture and it’s blue and black. I think the picture is a witch.
Maybe the dress is an escapee from the Room of Requirement.
Hahaha! Mischief definitely managed.
🙂
My work had a poll about this stupid dress today. I was firmly in the camp white/gold but after staring and staring i can see how people would see a weirdly reflective/washed out color blue/black. I believe the dress is blue black but the picture is so poorly lit and washed out that it looks white/gold. I had to see the gold as a black shiny material reflecting warm lighting. Ugh why do i even care!?!!?
WHAT? Scroll down so you just see the last third of the dress and tell me that’s white and gold.
Clearly Voldermort is behind this. Every time I refresh the page it’s different colors.
It’s the apocalypse y’all! Hide ya kids…hide ya wife…
It keeps changing colors for me. This morning it was white and gold…now when I’m back home hours later it’s black and blue. I think it really does have to do with emotions. But how does that explain why when I look at other pics I have saved on my pc the colors never change regardless of my mood ? Why is it that only the pic of this dress changes color?
Edit: lol i just scrolled up at now it’s back to gold and white !
I see ugly.
This morning it was gold and white. Now it is cobalt blue and black. Wtf.
For the last 24 hours, all I have seen is white and gold. I would have bet my life it was white and gold. Now for the first time with the picture of this website I finally see blue and black. When I first opened the page, it was white and gold. Then I scrolled down and up again and it had changed to blue and black. I got so confused that maybe the picture on Celebitchy was a different one so I went back to another website i was reading that had the picture, and yup, it was white and gold there. Came back here and it was back to white and gold. Scrolled again, and it changed to blue and black again!
Here’s where it’s changing for me so try this and see if it changes for you. Scroll down the dress until the top half goes off the screen (the entire jacket becomes invisible). With just the bottom of the dress showing, it becomes blue and black and then stays that way even when you scroll back up to the top of the dress. Worked for me, so give it a try.
On my computer this looks white/light blue (from the lighting) and gold but on my iPhone it looks black and gold. I wasn’t seeing the black and gold until now.
You shouldn’t be surprised. Reddit debates are often substantive. I am often impressed by the whip smart people who hang out in Reddit land.
Baby blue and gold. Here. It depends on where it is posted and what effects have been done on it. I’ve seen it posted as white and gold right next to a rendering where it was black and blue.
Someone is having a good laugh at the gullibility of internet folks.
I see white and gold. What I do NOT understand is why, when two pictures of the same dress are next to each other, I see one as white and gold, and the other as blue and black. If it’s something in my eyes, how can I see both versions?
At first, I saw light blue and Gold. After seeing the dress un-photoshopped, I see light blue and black lace.
Blue and gold to me.
OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD.
When I first saw this dress it was white and gold and i thought “ah what a pretty dress.” I didn’t read the article or anything. I then came back a few hours later and the dressed CHANGED COLOURS! It legitimately changed colours! I am freaking out. Then I read the bit about how having a change of emotions will actually change the colour of dress to you! That is both amazing and terrifying.
Test the theory, to put your mind at ease.
If you think you are influencing your vision emotionally, gaze at something in the room that you know is white. For example, is the wall suddenly, categorically, electric blue? I doubt it.