# What color is this dress? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742 "2015-02-27T02:07:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/201 "2015-02-27T22:03:53Z")
OK quick update, now all I see is a blue and black dress no matter what my brightness setting is on my Note 4. My brain finally understands what the colors are supposed to be, that the dress is way overexposed, and is blue and black. I feel much better now. I was really upset I was seeing white and gold when it was revealed the dress is blue and black ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/202 "2015-02-27T22:08:52Z")
I’m really glad I got to see both. but now I can only see it as vivid blue and washed out black. Before it looked clearly white and gold, but I hope I never see it that way again, since that is not the color of the dress. I’m blown away. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/203 "2015-02-27T22:09:06Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Always reminds me of the idiot cops in the Simpsons: > “Lou: Yo, chief, we’ve got a problem here. [I see a vase, but Eddie sees two people in profile.](http://www.mpocares.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/document1.jpeg) > Wiggum: Now this may shock you but you’re both right.” > > The “right brain/left brain” analogy is 100% unmitigated bullshit. Absolutely. But I didn’t mention anything about left bs right brain, and my anology has nothing to do with it, to be clear. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/204 "2015-02-27T22:12:17Z")
Oh and that article that shows the three different versions, they all look blue and black to me now. Before, the left one was clearly white and gold, and left was clearly blue and black. Now all of them are clearly blue and black, though not the same shades . I’ve totally flipped ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/205 "2015-02-27T23:00:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Absolutely. But I didn’t mention anything about left bs right brain, and my anology has nothing to do with it, to be clear. Nobody thinks you did. But the article says that, and other versions of it are more explicit in stating the falsehoods of “brainedness.” ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/206 "2015-02-27T23:15:19Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > The colours I see? Light blue and golden brown. > I see no change, regardless of how much I scroll. I was closing my tabs before going to bed, and the dress had turned bright blue and black !! :eek::eek: I’m really puzzled at how what was clearly a very light blue has randomly turned into a deep shade of blue. How can my brain change its interpretation that much??? ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/207 "2015-02-27T23:25:17Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I see it as white and gold. > > If someone wanted to argue that the ‘white’ wasn’t really white, but rather a pale steel blue, I could accept that (though I don’t see it that way),but there is no way that I can see my ‘gold’ being the same as some people’s ‘black’. > > Apparently,since roughly 1/4 of people see it that way, it’s not just a matter of “you people have no sense of color”…there’s obviously something going on here…but it’s _ **weird** _. Same here, exactly the same. I can sorta see the white as blue, but I have no idea how you get black from the gold. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/208 "2015-02-27T23:28:24Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Nobody thinks you did. But the article says that, and other versions of it are more explicit in stating the falsehoods of “brainedness.” Gotcha. I wasn’t sure, so I wanted to clarify. Yeah, that’s a pile of BS. When I opened it originally, it spun counter-clockwise. When I opened it later to fix the link, it was spinning clockwise for me. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/209 "2015-02-27T23:40:11Z")
It’s white and gold for me, no matter how much I squint or scroll. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/210 "2015-02-27T23:42:53Z")
[Meet the man behind the blue-and-black, white-and-gold dress](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2015/02/27/meet-the-business-owner-behind-the-blue-and-black-white-and-gold-dress/) Article about the company that makes the dress. And the big news: There will be a white and gold version later this year. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/211 "2015-02-27T23:59:51Z")
black and blue. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/212 "2015-02-28T00:08:43Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > All the colors are clearly on a gradient from a washed out yellow to a deep brown, but since the whole room is washed out \*\*it’s obvious (to me) \*\*that it’s a washed out black. > [@Jragon](#): > > The colors aren’t black, it’s the contrast with the rest of the dress and the background of the photo that\*\* makes it obviously\*\* black. > [@Jragon](#): > > I am seeing both the color black and the color gold/brown at the same time. When I see it, my brain says “that’s a washed out black”. There’s no distinction between brown/gold and black in this photo. It doesn’t have to be a binary thing; in a fuzzy logic sense, I’d say it’s like .6 black and .4 gold. > [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > But there’s a distinction between a black that’s a dark grey and a black that’s a dark shade of any color. Me, I’m seeing a very dark yellowish brown, not any shade of gr– > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Not a whit of black. All brownish-gold. > [@Jragon](#): > > Color is not just RGB values, it’s context. **In the color context it’s black, even if the RGBs are brownish-gold (for me).** (boldface added) So after all it is _ **not** _ “obvious”. Or rather it’s only \*subjectively \*“obvious” for you because, as you said, to you those brownish-gold RGBs _in context_ mean “I’m looking at something that IRL is actually black”. But the huge online experiment suggests the context itself is not universally obvious. The yellowish-gold RGB is obviously black in context to you because you (and others) know and virtually-instinctively make allowance for something that a majority of people looking at screens apparently don’t even know needs to be made allowance for. So a lot of people in fact simply do look at the RGB of the flat pixels on the screen and in fact _ **do** _ “see” muddy yellowish-gold and very faint bluish hazegrey, and that is all they see (for which Gold/White was their best approximation). But OTOH there are people who intuitively proceed to reconstruct the scene environment, and without apparently needing conscious effort could “see” the black and blue. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/213 "2015-02-28T00:18:00Z")
^And it’s not even just average joe not knowing what to make color allowances for in imagery. Even experienced photographers seem to get screwed up by that, assuming that it is a case of faulty white balance that makes it blue-biased. Even the popular Photoshop educator and guru Scott Kelby got the whole thing wrong on his Facebook post today, claiming that the dress was white and gold, and that it was just the camera white balancing incorrectly for blue. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/214 "2015-02-28T00:20:06Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I’m really glad I got to see both. but now I can only see it as vivid blue and washed out black. Before it looked clearly white and gold, but I hope I never see it that way again, since that is not the color of the dress. > > I’m blown away. Exactly. Welcome to “the club” I originally was in the “what? How the HELL can anyone see anything other than bluish white and GOLD??” camp like some still are in this topic. But now, no matter what photo of it I look at, it’s very clearly black and blue. Like “What? How the HELL can anyone see anything other than black and blue???”. It’s uncanny. Those of you still only seeing white and gold: Give it some time. It took me about 12 hours before it changed for me…but then one minute I looked at it again and it was like seeing a new dress. My reaction: “Oh my God…is is black and blue…” in a half whisper. ---
**Author:** ![Novalyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@Novalyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novalyne)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/215 "2015-02-28T00:29:48Z")
So, my 6th graders got nothing done in science class today because all we could do was argue about that dress. We viewed it together projected on the screen, and as we all stood at the back of the room, the majority of all classes saw white/gold and a minority saw black/blue. My last class tried an interesting experiment, though. They changed a setting on their iPads so that the colors were reversed/negative. The blue/black kids said they saw white/gold in negative view. The white/gold group said they continued to see white/gold, but that the stripes were reversed. I saw white and gold both ways but didn’t pay attention to the stripes so I don’t know if they were reversed or not. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/216 "2015-02-28T00:31:02Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > It’s white and gold for me, no matter how much I squint or scroll. with that web page and the dress is now blue and black. Okay. I just clicked back on the tab with that web page, and the dress was blue and black. Then I refreshed the page, and it’s white and gold again. What is going on? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/217 "2015-02-28T01:57:12Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > So the people that somehow see dark blue and black, when you look at the three picture image in this [Wired article](http://www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/), all three versions of the dress look the exact same color to you? I see them all as various shades of blue. Light, medium, dark. But none of them look white. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/218 "2015-02-28T02:09:25Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > (boldface added) > > So after all it is _ **not** _ “obvious”. Or rather it’s only \*subjectively \*“obvious” for you because, as you said, to you those brownish-gold RGBs _in context_ mean “I’m looking at something that IRL is actually black”. But the huge online experiment suggests the context itself is not universally obvious. The yellowish-gold RGB is obviously black in context to you because you (and others) know and virtually-instinctively make allowance for something that a majority of people looking at screens apparently don’t even know needs to be made allowance for. So a lot of people in fact simply do look at the RGB of the flat pixels on the screen and in fact _ **do** _ “see” muddy yellowish-gold and very faint bluish hazegrey, and that is all they see (for which Gold/White was their best approximation). But OTOH there are people who intuitively proceed to reconstruct the scene environment, and without apparently needing conscious effort could “see” the black and blue. Obviously meant “obviously for me.” This is color, and a matter of qualia and perception, I thought it was a given that it was subjective. Sorry I didn’t qualify the statement. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/219 "2015-02-28T03:10:50Z")
> [@Novalyne](#): > > So, my 6th graders got nothing done in science class today because all we could do was argue about that dress. We viewed it together projected on the screen, and as we all stood at the back of the room, the majority of all classes saw white/gold and a minority saw black/blue. > > My last class tried an interesting experiment, though. They changed a setting on their iPads so that the colors were reversed/negative. The blue/black kids said they saw white/gold in negative view. The white/gold group said they continued to see white/gold, but that the stripes were reversed. > > I saw white and gold both ways but didn’t pay attention to the stripes so I don’t know if they were reversed or not. Huh. I just tried that, and it changed from looking completely blue/black to looking steel blue/muddy gold. Still not white, but much closer. Through this miraculous discovery, perhaps all sides will gain empathy and peace shall finally reign. (Ah, it’s the Internet - who am I kidding?) ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742/220 "2015-02-28T04:23:29Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I don’t even see the optical illusion. Every photo of it, except for when it has been purposefully edited to be either darker or lighter, has looked exactly the sam ? Or poor lig g tinge. Light blue and bronze. As clearly shown by the Photoshop eyedropper tool. > > Again, anyone who looks at that and thinks it’s white has something wrong with either their eyes or their monitor. I’ve taken those online color tests mentioned above on this monitor and gotten 100% correct. > > ETA. **Macca** , exactly. Exactly. I am seeing the photo how it actually is. Forgive me but your posts are cracking me up. You are clearly someone who is seeing it as “white and gold” and thinking that the argument is over whether it is “white and gold kind of in a shadow” or more like “light blue or periwinkle with tan trim” and blaming slight differences in vision or monitor quality. Sometimes it’s a mistake to be SO sure you’re right because those seeing it “correctly” (and I’m not one of them) see a deep, royal blue and jet black. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-color-is-this-dress/713742.md?page=12)