SOLVED: Definitive Proof That the True Color of That $80 Internet Breaking Dress Is

Poorly lit white and gold, or overexposed blue and black? What color dress do you see?

Blue and black (and better looking off the hanger).

Tumblr user swiked posted a photo of the dress, worn by a friend’s mother, and ignited a color debate. A lot of people saw white and gold, others argued blue and black. Others argued that the dress in question was too ugly to even think about.

Sorry white and gold crowd – we were fervently with you after looking at the picture above in a brightly lit room from the top down. But after a few minutes in a darker area, and looking again from the bottom up, it seemingly changed color entirely and stuck. We’ve seen the lack of light, can’t unsee it, and are firmly entrenched in the blue and black camp.

Don’t take our word for it, there’s a scientific explanation for why your eyes may be playing color tricks on you.

Light enters the eye through the lens—different wavelengths corresponding to different colors….Without you having to worry about it, your brain figures out what color light is bouncing off the thing your eyes are looking at, and essentially subtracts that color from the “real” color of the object….Usually that system works just fine. This image, though, hits some kind of perceptual boundary. {Wired}

In a completely unscientific explanation, what color you see tends to vary depending on where you first look. Starting at the top, the first panel in the middle does indeed appear to be a dull gold, and the blue tones seem to be a poorly lit white. If you look at the photo from the bottom up, the first portion of the middle panel appears to have a more clear bluish tone.

If you’re still not convinced, here’s a color balanced photo, in all its true blue and black glory, from the retailer who sells it.

That dress, and the pictured jacket, are available at UK retailer Roman for £50 (approximately $77 at current exchange rates), in a variety of more clearly defined colors. Pick your favorite Instagram filter, try them all and see how much of an internet debate you can ignite.