What Color is this Dress *Explanation*

Wired has a good article about it

I've now seen it three phones and three computer screens, and it looks different each time.

My initial reaction was that it's white and gold, although there's now some doubt creeping in.

Interestingly (or not) both my wife and I were adamant it's white/gold, whereas our teenage daughters were equally sure it's blue/black. This paragraph...

...suggests age is a factor?

I can accept that the dress is blue and has been horribly mangled by whatever camera was used, but, try as hard as I might, I really can't process that green/brown colour as anything other than gold.

Here is the dress in a different setting, from the actual seller...

It's clearly black and blue. On a side note, I'm very confused as to why my thread was moved to wasteland.

Scepticalscribe said:

Anyway, I see it - the original post - as (pale) blue and (dull) gold.

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We're allowed white/gold and blue/black, but I'm not sure blue/gold is a permitted colour combo!

On the crudely calibrated desktop monitor I'm using right now it does appear more of baby blue, whereas on more strongly backlit devices I perceive it as an overly warm white. But I can't for the life of me see how it's a rendition of the sapphire dress in the advert.

LadyX said:

Yes I wanted to post the explanation but I was surprised to see it locked and thrown to waste.

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On second thought, the poll results were embarassing and maybe it was for the best that it was removed from public view.

Do I understand that right: take a horrible pic with a crap camera/lens and ask folks, each with a different screen that is, about the color of the original, physical item? :/

Material is highly reflective, that's for sure.

Oh, and that the skirt ain't looking good in either combo, too. We sure this is no marketing bs?

LadyX said:

Oh wow. So you see it as blue and gold. It's usually either blue and black or white and gold.





Yes I wanted to post the explanation but I was surprised to see it locked and thrown to waste.

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mojolicious said:

We're allowed white/gold and blue/black, but I'm not sure blue/gold is a permitted colour combo!

On the crudely calibrated desktop monitor I'm using right now it does appear more of baby blue, whereas on more strongly backlit devices I perceive it as an overly warm white. But I can't for the life of me see how it's a rendition of the sapphire dress in the advert.

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Reading the article, the guy who conducted the experiment seems to have seen it as blue and gold (he used the term 'orange', whereas I see it as a dull brass colour).

Why that should be, I have no idea, but would be most interested in learning more. I suspect that ageing eyes may have something to do with it.

Nevertheless, it is fascinating.

LadyX said:

There was a poll? I didn't see it because I usually browse using Tapatalk. .

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Yes. Gold and white beat blue and black 7 to 5 before it was closed. Inconceivable.

twietee said:

Do I understand that right: take a horrible pic with a crap camera/lens and ask folks, each with a different screen that is, about the color of the original, physical item? :/

Material is highly reflective, that's for sure.

Oh, and that the skirt ain't looking good in either combo, too. We sure this is no marketing bs?

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While I agree that the dress doesn't particularly 'look good' in any setting, I doubt that this is the point of the thread.

Likewise, - while I had dismissed the initial thread as one of those frivolous ones, I actually don't think this can be reduced to a description of 'marketing bs'; rather, I think it is a fascinating example of how different people see light differently, and it appears to be a function of how they process different colours in the human eye.

I must say that I find the topic extraordinarily interesting.

LadyX said:

There was a poll? I didn't see it because I usually browse using Tapatalk.




I used the same iPhone to show my sisters and aunt. My little sister and I see a blue and black dress. My aunt and older sister, gold and white. Again, same iPhone.

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Actually, yes, there was a poll, in the waste landed version of the thread.

LadyX said:

My little sister and I see a blue and black dress. My aunt and older sister, gold and white.

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It sounds more and more like a young eyes / old eyes divide.

LadyX said:

I used the same iPhone to show my sisters and aunt. My little sister and I see a blue and black dress. My aunt and older sister, gold and white. Again, same iPhone.

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Yep, but it's not exactly news that different people perceive colors quite differently - let alone material qualities (shiny or not/surroundings etc.)

But to ask about the color of a real object via digital representation (and a very crappy one at that) is quite pointless imo.

Scepticalscribe said:

...I think it is a fascinating example of how different people see light differently, and it appears to be a function of how they process different colours in the human eye...

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A good lesson came from this: Being confident you're right doesn't always mean you're right. In life, there isn't always a single right answer.

And contrary to what many believe, self-doubt can actually be helpful in getting you to the truth - which is neither black nor white (nor blue nor gold!)

Hard for some to grasp, but a good lesson.

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mojolicious said:

It sounds more and more like a young eyes / old eyes divide.

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Or environment? I had the colors flip on me between being in the car in the dark and later at home in a well lit room. It had me seriously scratching my head.

It reminds me of this illusion. The squares A and B are identical in color/shade. They really are! Explanation is at the link: http://web.mit.edu/persci/people/adelson/checkershadow_illusion.html

Can't someone run it through Photoshop and just use the eye dropper to determine which color it's closest to? We have pretty set standards on what's considered gold and what is considered black.

Zombie Acorn said:

Can't someone run it through Photoshop and just use the eye dropper to determine which color it's closest to? We have pretty set standards on what's considered gold and what is considered black.

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Here ya go!

All I want to know is, will that dress fit the llamas?

Zombie Acorn said:

Can't someone run it through Photoshop and just use the eye dropper to determine which color it's closest to? We have pretty set standards on what's considered gold and what is considered black.

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That gives you a single right answer. But that's useless in the real world because that's not how people are perceiving it.

And for all practical, everyday purposes: perception is reality.

yg17 said:

All I want to know is, will that dress fit the llamas?

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Apparently...