Is the dress blue or white?

[Orlageddon]

Okay so do I live under a rock or what, because I've never heard about this

 

I'm seeing light blue that could actually be badly lit white, and kinda golden brown I guess... I have no problem with the blue really, but how in the hell is anybody seeing black?? Is my monitor that light? Am I that colorblind?? ??? Aaahhh

[AquaTart]

Okay so do I live under a rock or what, because I've never heard about this

 

I'm seeing light blue that could actually be badly lit white, and kinda golden brown I guess... I have no problem with the blue really, but how in the hell is anybody seeing black?? Is my monitor that light? Am I that colorblind?? ??? Aaahhh

Lol nope not just you. I just learned about it yesterday when it popped up on every forum-based website. O.o

Apparently it does involve everyone's monitor, otherwise I doubt everyone would see different. And also apparently how you perceive the highlighting in the picture. I see exactly what you do but I have seen a picture where it really did look black and blue. Although I won't believe that it isn't just someone purposely messing it up on photoshop until I get to check it out myself. It all seems more like a hoax than actual eyeball and brain mechanics lol.

[Shienvien]

Okay so do I live under a rock or what, because I've never heard about this

Dragon Cave forums was the first place for me... But then again, I generally avoid Tumblr and related sites.

[Nerei]

Guys, I can't see black at all. It just looks tan, and that bothers me so much! I hate my eyes now.

[AquaTart]

I just want to add on to what I said and say that I got it to look blue and black by tilting my screen. Then when I tilted it the other way it was white and gold. So I stick with what I say. The dress might actually be blue and black, but that picture doesn't show it, and anyone who sees it that way must have a darker screen.

[MedievalMystic]

Ayesthine, your picture freaks me out more than the other one did. When I first look at it, I see white and a dark gold/bronze color. But, if I stare at it for a minute, it starts looking very pale blue/white and dark gold. If I go away for a minute then look at it again, it's white/dark gold again. It fades to very pale blue every time though if I stare at it. So weird. lol

 

On the original picture in this post, I tried tilting my screen, opening the blinds, whatever, and I still saw a faded blue/black no matter what.

Edited February 27, 2015 by MedievalMystic

[Shienvien]

Guys, I can't see black at all. It just looks tan, and that bothers me so much! I hate my eyes now.

It is "actually" (as in, if you color-pick off the image, not in real life; in real life it *is* black) some sort of murky darker slightly orangeish brown. It's mostly just that fabric is generally a bit reflective, so that if you shine yellow/orange light on black, it often appears to be brownish - whether the fabric of the lace looks black to you depends on whether or not your brain interprets it as just that happening.

 

(My personal impression would thus perhaps be more aptly "black with bronze sheen".)

[Andalusian]

I just saw this today too, and I'm already pretty competitive about it for some reason… no wonder the world is in craze about this.

 

Lol at the people who think their eyes are better than ours because they see blue and black.

I saw a darkened white and a gold with brownish smudgy-ness on it. When I lowered my screen brightness it immediately turned into a darkish-grey and blue. It's something of a camera/lighting trick, not your eyes

If anything, it could mean we have better/brighter monitors than you.

 

@Ayesthine I have to work pretty hard at looking at it to see the green, but that's really cool!

 

EDIT: On another note, I wonder who designed this dress? And did they intentionally make the colors/texture/whatever look tricky to the eye to mess with us? Lmao

Edited February 27, 2015 by Andalusian

[MedievalMystic]

Is this seriously becoming an issue about who has 'superior' eyes? lmao!

[EnderEcho]

I see white and gold, and I'm tired of reading that my eyes aren't working properly or that someone elses' eyes are better because they see blue and black. Why can't we just figure out why the difference exists, and be okay with it? What's so interesting about the world if we all see it the same way, anyhow?

 

I saw this for the first time last night, and then on my way out of my first class this morning, there were four girls sitting together having a pretty intense debate about it.

 

EDIT: I know it isn't about quality of eyesight. I just don't appreciate (very much) the people who discuss it strictly as such, or say "Well we all know that the dress is really (insert blue/black, white/gold), and we are superior to those who see (insert blue/black, white/gold)."

 

Though Ellen's tweet about it was entertaining.

I did say that "I have better cones than yours" in the first page, but I meant it as a joke. Sorry about that.

[Evil sethoss]

It's blue and black for me and my dad. It s the other color for my mom.

[Shienvien]

If anything, it could mean we have better/brighter monitors than you.

Ironically, it is vice versa for many - the brighter monitor is more likely to look blue/black and the darker one white/gold. ...Since the lighter background makes your brain think that the dress is already under bright light and doesn't feel the need to adjust the colors lighter. (Which I can testify - it looks blue/black on my brighter laptop screen and white/gold on my literally minimal-brightness PC screen.)

 

Eh, and gamma doesn't tell anything about your monitor's quality - that's more resolution and color distinction matter. For some people, dim screens are better since ouch, who on earth thought neon text on white was a good idea!?

 

EDIT: On another note, I wonder who designed this dress? And did they intentionally make the colors/texture/whatever look tricky to the eye to mess with us?

It is only a matter of this one photo - and the really, really bad camera it was taken with. In real life and other pictures, the dress looks "normal" blue/black. Edited February 27, 2015 by Shienvien

[Banyanpan]

It looks blue (white?) and gold to me.

I.. Don't think this is something worth arguing about though. It's just a dress.

[pony459]

I see both color combinations depending on angles and lighting. But its honestly not even a pretty dress

[hazeh]

Eh, I don't think monitors and whatnot have much to do with it. As I said earlier, I approached the picture from different devices under different conditions. I even shook my ipad to see if it would change my perception lol. It was only have I had been staring at it for like, two hours that the white started to suddenly darken to me. Now I perceive it as a bluish purple gray, and the gold became a darker brown. Still no actual strong blue or black haha.

 

My girlfriend looked at it and saw black and blue, and we were looking at the same picture on the same device. We were both pointing at it going "IT'S [blackblue/whitegold]!" Hahaha. Then i started seeing the periwinkle/brown and was like, wth???

 

But yeah too many people have said they see it the same way after looking at the picture under different conditions, so I doubt it has much to do with the device we're looking at it on versus how our brains are interpreting the colors of the image.

[Doodle_Leetle_Trees]

White and gold. Nothing else.

 

Also, checked out some website, which says the dress "has been blowing up the internet and tearing friendships apart", I probably sound like an idiot, but is it literally 'tearing friendships apart'? Or is it an over exaggeration to prove a point? I assume it's an over exaggeration, but the school I go to would say otherwise, everyone there is so melodramatic.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Doodle_Leetle_Trees

[SolarCat]

It's a poor picture in bad lighting, and the color issues are caused by the same thing that requires me to bring clothes into my super-bright lights in my bathroom when I'm getting dressed every morning to double check whether my shirt is black or dark blue.

 

Looking at the picture, my eyes see gold and light blue if I'm looking at the top half of the picture, but very clearly black and blue when I'm looking at the bottom half. It's brain interpretations, and that's what the visual cues tell me.

 

It's a neat optical illusion, but nothing more.

 

(And for the record, the actual dress is truly dark blue and black.)

 

This is the first I have seen this "debate" too. The internet is a crazy place. Although the sugar-free gummy bear reviews are my personal favorites.

[MedievalMystic]

Also, checked out some website, which says the dress "has been blowing up the internet and tearing friendships apart", I probably sound like an idiot, but is it literally 'tearing friendships apart'?

 

Imo, if something so petty and minor can 'tear friendships apart', there wasn't much friendship there to begin with.

[Syiren]

I have no idea how people are seeing it as black and blue... to me it is obviously white and gold, but that's just me.

I see white and gold as well. My mother sees it as black and blue even though we're looking at the same picture. I've tried to see how it looks different to others, but I still see white and gold.

 

Are there any other photos of this same dress? A different light source or background might solve the whole thing.

 

ETA: I don't want to support the theory that seeing it as White and Gold equals weaker eyes, but looking at the same picture with my new glasses I now see it as blue and black-ish gold. So, there may by some truth to that theory, but I won't dig too far into that.

 

I was surprised so many argued over it. Both my mother and I found it funny and neat, and we saw the opposite of what the other saw.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Syiren

[CursedFlames]

Sethbling figured it out.

[zaverxi]

XKCD made a comic about it

 

I dunno, either color combination aside, it's an ugly dress unless you're a fan of sedimentary rocks.

[amillionelephants]

I only see blue and black. I guess the trimming does look a little bronze but I don't see the white at all.

[XDLugia]

So, on different pictures that are on the link provided, I see both combinations. So, yay?

[AquaBlueRain]

Ahaha. Honestly? I see lavender and bronze.

 

*shrug*

[Nerei]

I just never want to look at that dress again. D: