The Colors of This Dress Sparked A Debate Online: Is it Blue and Black, White and Gold or Neither?

COLORS. Just this Thursday, February 26, a dress sparked debate online of what colors it really does have. The photo of the dress was posted on Tumblr. Some people say it’s blue and black, while others say it’s white and gold.

According to Buzzfeed, Tumblr user Swiked uploaded the photo of the dress. She then posted a note saying, “guys please help me – is this dress white and gold, or blue and black? Me and my friends can’t agree and we are freaking the f**k out”

There were actually a lot of notes posted, some saying it’s blue and black, others saying it’s white and gold. Tumblr user Spiked also made a note that the dress even changed its color, asking people to reblog her photo to get an answer.

So why is everybody seeing different colors? Wired explained why. According to Bevil Conway, a neuroscientist from Wellesley College, “What’s happening here is your visual system is looking at this thing, and you’re trying to discount the chromatic bias of the daylight axis, so people either discount the blue side, in which case they end up seeing white and gold, or discount the gold side, in which case they end up with blue and black.” That means the color that the eyes can see depends on what time of the day they see it because it depends on the daylight which also changes color. (Conway sees orange in the dress, by the way)

Conway also mentioned that the color of the background can also change the way people see the color of the dress. Like, if the background is white, people may see blue, or if the background s black, people may see white. He also mentioned that people who see it as white may be seeing the dress in broad daylight, and for people who are “night owls”, this is blue and black.

So what is the real color of the dress?

Twitter user Abi, found a photo of the dress online and posted it on the social network. It had a color description which is “Royal-blue lace detail bodycon dress”:

 Youtube user Connor Brady also explained that the dress is really blue and black using photoshop:

So, well I guess that’s settled. But tell us, what do you see? Is it really blue and black or white and gold? Leave a comment below.