A Decade Later: Reflecting on The Dress That Divided the Internet
We are getting deeper into 2025.. and it’s remarkable to realize that we are hit with the 10th anniversary of one of the most bizarre and memorable viral debates of the digital age:
The Dress.
For those who lived through February 2015, you’ll remember the heated arguments, social media storms, and even news broadcasts dominated by a seemingly trivial question: What color is this dress?
It all began innocently enough when a Scottish woman posted a photo of a dress she was going to wear to a wedding to Facebook, seeking clarification on its color. The dress in question was a Roman Originals design that was, factually speaking, blue and black. However, what followed was a firestorm of disagreement on the internet once the photo started getting shared.
A guest at the wedding shared the dress image on Tumblr. It went viral, and not the kind of fake viral where we are told something went viral but didn’t, but really viral. As a matter of fact, the username SWIKED posted the image and the archive of those February 2015 posts still exist today.
Some insisted the dress was white and gold, others swore it was blue and gold, and a few others claimed to see some other combination entirely.
The photo transcended the personal conversation it was intended for and exploded onto the global stage, dividing the internet like never before. Politicians and celebrities weighed in. News anchors were on the air debating.. people were having divisive and even angry conversations about what colors they perceived. It was a strange and innocent time.
I even documented my personal thoughts of the dress on this website in February 2015–I thought at the time I Was seeing black and blue and now–get this–I don’t. As of today, ten years on, I see blue and gold. Not sure what happened to my eyes over the decade..
The innocence of the story became much darker years later. More on that in a moment..
Why Did We Disagree?
The reason for the disagreement was not due to your screen resolutions or device settings, as some initially thought, but in how human brains perceived the color. The image hit a peculiar optical illusion sweet spot where the brain, trying to account for lighting in the photo, interpreted the colors differently depending on the viewer. Experts say it boiled down to individual perceptions of light and shadow.
But even now, researchers continue to delve into the phenomenon, publishing studies about how different people interpret visual stimuli. It became a perfect example of the larger idea that our brains shape our reality, and the same stimuli can lead to fundamentally different experiences.
It has turned into not just what you see your believe, but what you HEAR you believe, too. This somewhat famous video has made rounds on various social media..
And if cannot decide if lobsters are in motion or Bart Simpson is bouncing, maybe you figure out if this is green needle or a brainstorm:
Memestream: A Cultural Phenomenon
For those who weren’t online or were too young at the time, it’s hard to overstate the impact of The Dress for the period of time when it was making the rounds. This was top story status, folks. While the news of that day may not have been earth shattering, for this pop cultural moment to have happened, something larger seemingly took place. People really really got enraged at times about what their perception of colors were…
Social media feeds were flooded with polls, memes, and arguments. Psychologists weighed in, as did physicists, artists, and celebrities. Even politicians and brands got involved, using the controversy to market their messages or products.
The global obsession also came with a twist of tragedy. The dress had been purchased for a wedding, but in the years following the viral moment, the family involved faced personal difficulties, including online harassment. It served as a sobering reminder of the downsides of viral fame.
A Decade of Debate
Now, 10 years later, the debate over The Dress feels like a nostalgic relic of the internet’s earlier days—before algorithms and AI took over our feeds in quite the same way. But the lessons it taught us linger. It was a reminder that even something as seemingly straightforward as a photograph could divide us so deeply. It also highlighted how social media can amplify the most unexpected topics into global conversations.
The Crime
In many ways, The Dress foreshadowed some of the societal challenges we’d face in the years to come, where the phrase “my facts aren’t your facts” would become a recurring theme in public discourse. It was a lighthearted precursor to more serious debates about perception, truth, and reality.
Keir Johnston was alleged to have conducted an almost 11-year campaign of serious domestic violence and coercive control which resulted in him attempting to kill his wife.
It was alleged that from April 2019 and March 2022, Johnston attempted to strangle his wife, he pushed his wife against a wall, shouting at her and throttling her, and threatening to kill her and brandishing a knife towards her.
He was also alleged to have attempted to enter a vehicle his wife was in and striking her through an open window, and allegedly placing her in a headlock and dragging her from a pub after she refused to leave with him.
Johnson subsequently pled guilty to the charges that were presented ..
Why Does It Still Matter?
As the anniversary hits us, you can bet that The Dress will resurface in timelines, news stories, and debates.
Once again, people will stare at the same image and see completely different things.
And in a world increasingly polarized over much bigger issues, maybe this reminder of our shared yet fractured realities is more relevant than ever.
So, what color do you see?
Let the debates begin anew.
I see blue & gold/khaki Can’t recall what I saw years ago, I recall the controversy, so some of my brain is still working, or is it?
The same for me .. blue and gold