Unless you were in a bunker on Thursday, you’ve heard the only story more viral than the llamas on the lam.
A photo of a dress — now trending on every social media site as #TheDress — left the world divided. Is it white and gold? Blue and black? Or, dare we say it, blue and brown?
We know the answer. Here’s what all the fuss is about:
An image of the dress was originally posted by a 21-year-old singer named Caitlin McNeill.
McNeill shared it with talent manager Sarah Weichel, who begged the question, “Is this dress white and gold, or blue and black? Me and my friends can’t agree and we are freaking the fuck out.”
It’s freaking blue and black.
Though you may not see it that way. Wired wrote a great piece outlining how our eyes deceive us, and the science behind The Dress.
Wired reports:
“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,” says Bevil Conway, a neuroscientist who studies color and vision at Wellesley College. “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.” (Conway sees blue and orange, somehow.)
You can buy it.
The dress is by Roman Originals, and the company knows its garment is famous. Oh yeah, and the site describes it as “Royal Blue.”
Some still probably think it’s white and gold. That’s OK.
#TeamWhiteGold is still going strong on Twitter and Facebook. #TeamBlueandBlack is winning, though.
Yes, there are memes.
Because of course there are memes.
The Dress’ poster has spoken.
McNeill told Business Insider that the whole experience has been odd, but she enjoyed the attention the dress received from celebrities:
“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,” McNeill said.
McNeill also says that the dress is blue and black. Debate over!