Royal Blue And Gold Dress Shop on Pinterest Why people see #thedress (the dress) differently Optometrist Explains The dress was a 2015 online viral phenomenon centred on a photograph of a dress. Viewers disagreed on whether the dress was blue and black, or white and gold : r wikipedia The actual dress was black and blue. The confusion came from how lighting and color perception tricked people's brains, making some see it as white and gold. It became a viral example