The dress that divided the internet IS blue and black: Millions join raging debate over whether mother of the bride's outfit is really white and gold

So I woke up this morning and as usual I put on my wifi and you know, yes I woke up late. People be so judgy anyways I checked instagram and Don jazzy just put up a write up about blue and black or was it gold and yellow being pink. I didn't just understand it and so I decided to scroll down my instagram timeline to see what he was talking about and I still didn't get it. Until I used the hashtag BLUE AND BLACK  and the answers came rolling. So you might want to sit down for this.

It is the question that has divided the internet: is this dress white and gold, or blue and black? 

The two-toned frock has sparked a fierce online debate, with users taking to social media to argue over what colours they see.

The picture of the dress was first posted on Tumblr by Caitlin McNeill, a 21-year-old aspiring singer from Scotland, after noticing her friends saw different colours in the photograph. 

The image has become an online sensation, with posts arguing over the dress's original colours - and science behind the debate - being viewed and shared millions of times.

 

 

 

 
True colours: This photograph of Cecelia Bleasdale in 'the dress', left, with daughter Grace Johnston and son-in-law Keir Johnston, reveals that the frock is royal blue with a black lace trim

Black and blue: The real colours of the dress, made by British clothing company Roman Originals

Even celebrities weighed in on the fashion debate, with Kim Kardashian asking her 29.4million Twitter followers to help settle a disagreement between herself and husband Kanye West. 

And #TheDress started trending worldwide on Twitter as the debate went global. At 3.15pm this afternoon, there had been more than 1 million tweets mentioning the hashtag.

The photograph that started the internet storm was taken by Cecilia Bleasdale while she was deciding on what to wear to her daughter's upcoming wedding.

REVEALING ITS TRUE COLOURS: SCIENCE BEHIND THE DRESS 

There's science behind the reason why some people see black on blue while others are just as certain that they see gold on white.

The simple answer is that the picture is an optical illusion.

Objects reflect light at certain wavelengths, or colours, and the human brain determines the colour of an object by taking in its reflected light. But this perception can be thrown off balance by the colour of nearby objects. 

With the photo of the dress, the surrounding colours are so muddled that the brain isn't sure what to make of the dress itself.

As Wired.com points out, a digital analysis of the dress photo shows that one of the spots of black trim is actually orange in the photo.

Thus, people who perceive the surrounding area as dark are likely to see the blue in the dress as white and the black colours as gold. It all just depends on the manner that the brain perceives and processes colour.

Jay Neitz, a University of of Washington neuroscience tells Wired: 'I’ve studied individual differences in colour vision for 30 years, and this is one of the biggest individual differences I’ve ever seen.'

He sees gold on white.

Ms Bleasdale sent the picture of the frock to her daughter, Grace , to ask the bride-to-be what she thought. Grace, in turn, shared it with her then-fiance, Kier Johnston.

The couple disagreed over the colours of the dress, which can be purchased here, and Grace sought more opinions online. 

The bride-to-be then posted the picture on Facebook, and her friends continued to debate the colour of the dress.  

The debate was forgotten until Caitlin McNeill, a close friend of the newlyweds, posted the picture on Tumblr days after the wedding.

Ms McNeill, whose band played at the Scottish ceremony, shared the photograph on a fan page dedicated to talent manager Sarah Weichel, who represents YouTube stars.

That page gave it the exposure that sent the dress into the online stratosphere.

Speaking to Business Insider, Ms McNeill, said she couldn't believe the way the dress has exploded online.

She said: 'I thought my followers on Tumblr would maybe have a good reaction, but I never would have considered that Taylor Swift and Mindy Kaling would be tweeting about it.' 

Meanwhile, as the newlyweds enjoy their honeymoon in Jamaica, their friends and families have been shocked by the coverage over the dress.

Mr Johnston's mother, Shirley Johnston, 62, said the reaction had been 'really weird' while 26-year-old Lindsay Maden, from Blackpool, who was a bridesmaid at the wedding, described it as 'mental'.

Actress Mindy Kaling also joined the discussion, writing on Twitter: 'IT'S A BLUE AND BLACK DRESS! ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME'. 

Her friend and fellow actor BJ Novak replied writing, 'white and gold.' 

Then recent Oscar winner Julianne Moore jumped in, writing to Novak and Kaling; 'what's the matter with u guys, it's white and gold.' 

To that, Novak replied to Moore; 'Thank you!And congratulations on your Oscar, which Mindy thinks is purple and green.'  

 

 
 





 

Some celebrities avoided the issue completely, simply declaring that the dress was ugly. 

Model Chrissy Teigen told her 655,000 Twitter followers: 'F*** the dress it's heinous. While Oscar-winner Jared Leto branded it 'fugly'. 

McNeill said she never expected the picture to spark a star-studded debate, explaining that she just thought her followers on Tumblr would have a 'good reaction'. 

 

Well I see "Royal Blue and Black" I'm sure a colour blind person will see same colour. But that's neither here nor there.  You reading this post. What's the colour of the dress?