It’s been over eight years since a small picture of a dress nearly destroyed the internet.
In just one week, over ten million messages were written about it on Twitter, with hashtags such as #whiteandgold and #blackandblue.
The reason was that no one could agree whether it was in the colors blue and black, or in white and gold.
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The researchers scratched their teeth, and in the wake of the image, a number of research articles on color perception were published in scientific journals.
The discussion went so far, that in the end the dress was simply called “The Dress”.
Now one of the women behind the phenomenon, Cate Holderness, reveals the story of how “The Dress” became the year’s definitively biggest talking point.
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– We’re going CRAZY
It is in the new book “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral” that the story of the dress is described, reports Business Insider.
The book is written by Ben Smith, who was editor of the viral website BuzzFeed between 2011 and 2020.
Born at the same time – not twins
Cates Holderness was working at BuzzFeed, and was about to finish her work day when she got a call from a Scottish folk singer.
The folk singer, Caitlin McNeill, wrote that a friend’s mother had taken a picture of a dress.
She explained that neither of them could agree on what color it was.
– Some say it is blue, while others write that it is white. Can you explain this? We are going CRAZY, she wrote.
POPULAR: After the dress phenomenon, BuzzFeed became the world’s most popular viral website. Photo: AP
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20 people argued
Holderness looked more closely at the picture, and did not understand what the problem was.
Completely convinced that the dress was blue and black, she asked her colleagues if they disagreed.
After only a few minutes, 20 people were standing around her desk arguing about what colors it was.
THE ORIGINAL: The low-resolution and somewhat blurry image of the dress looked like this. Photo: Cecilia Bleasdale
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– Thought someone had died
Holderness blasted the photo on BuzzFeed with the caption “What colors is this dress?», and then she went home for the day.
She sat down on the subway, where there was no coverage.
As soon as the subway was out of the tunnel, Twitter notifications started pouring in on her mobile.
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She tried to open the notifications, but the phone just crashed. She tried to restart the phone, but to no avail.
It just kept crashing.
– I thought someone had died. I didn’t understand what was happening, says Holderness.
Eventually, all of BuzzFeed crashed.
The reason: The picture of the dress had exploded online.
CONFUSED: Taylor Swift was just one of the superstars who made the dress debate boil further. Photo: AP
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– Confused and scared
On Twitter, celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry jumped into the discussion.
– I am confused and scared, wrote Swift, who was convinced that the dress was blue and black.
Explains this one
Kim Kardashian and her then rap boyfriend Kanye West disagreed:
– What color is the dress? I see white and gold. Kanye looks black and blue. Who is colorblind, she asked her many million followers
What color is that dress? I see white & gold. Kanye sees black & blue, who is color blind?
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) February 27, 2015
Broke all records
Within a short time, the BuzzFeed post had been viewed an incredible 37 million times, breaking all readership records.
In the little post, Cates had included a poll, which showed that around one in three thought the dress was blue and black.
The rest thought it was white and gold.
POLL: Millions of readers told BuzzFeed their opinion. Photo: Screenshot
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More active brain
Now, eight years later, the colors of the dress are still disputed.
The truth is that the dress has always been blue and black.
The consolation is perhaps that those who see a white and gold colored dress according to the newspaper The Telegraph have a more active brain.
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Started it all
The woman who took the photo, Cecilia Bleasdale, has told a number of media outlets that she took it at the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet in Chester, England.
Bleasdale wanted to wear the dress at her daughter’s wedding, and sent her the picture to ask if she liked it.
The two began to argue about what colors the dress actually had.
SHOPPING: The photo of the dress was taken at the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet in Chester, England. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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The discussion went so far that the daughter, Grace Johnston, posted her mother’s photo on Facebook and asked her friends back home on the island of Colonsay what colors they saw.
This once again created a big discussion, and within a week “the whole” of Colonsay had heard about the picture.
THE ORIGINAL: This is what the dress actually looks like. Photo: Screenshot
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Was completely engrossed
During the wedding reception, Grace Johnston’s friend Caitlin McNeil was to perform.
The bride’s mother was wearing the blue and black dress.
– Everyone saw the dress in all its glory, and we saw that it was of course blue and black, McNeil said BuzzFeed.
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Before the performance, the musicians got to see the now famous picture. None of the band members could agree on which colors they saw.
The band was so engrossed in the image that they almost forgot about the whole performance.
The next day, McNeill posted the photo on Tumbler, then sent it to BuzzFeed.
The rest can safely be said to be history.
It’s gold and white damn it 🤦♂️
I don’t believe you people who see black and blue are human— Michael Mericle (@MichaelMericle5) May 25, 2023
Never give up
Even to this day, the dress is hotly debated Twitter.
– My God, now the picture of the dress has appeared again! It is blue and black, reads one of the most recent posts about the dress.
– Say what you want, but for me it will always be white and gold, writes another.
2023-05-27 04:56:24
#Revealing #truth
