What colour do you see?

I don't see the issue, it is just a crappie photo which renders the colours incorrectly. if it was an optical illusion the image showing two images would both look the same, rather that one being blue/black whilst the other is a non descript white/pale blue and gold ish) Also every screen will render the colours differently (very few people calibrate the colours on their screens)

pompa Apparently, the dress is actually blue and black – it's the brain that interprets the colours differently, but I agree that the lighting in one photograph tends to make the blue look rather wishy washy and the black faded to dull brown.

I see very pale blue and gold.

pompa What I forgot to say was that people looking at the same single image of the dress "see" different colours. It's nothing to do with there being two separate photographs in this particular instance.

Exactly absent it is the lighting that makes the images different, they don't just appear different, they are different. The image on the right has been taken in a studio with correct colour balance and exposure. All colours are influenced by the lighting, the colour temperature of the light makes a huge difference ( don't you take clothes into daylight to check the colour when buying ?), however this particular image is simply over exposed causing it to be washed out ( I have put it into photoshop and re-calibrated it to make the black areas black and surprise surprise the pale areas become a rich blue.

Pale blue and brown in the first and electric blue and black in the second. Nowhere can I see white

Light blue and gold

Silvery-white and gold.

Pompa That is what I thought - that it was sometning technical about the photographs.

I am sure that all the publicity surrounding this dress will have done wonders for sales. Am I cynical?

Something technical about the photographs doesn't explain why two or more people looking at the same single photograph see the dress in such very different colours. The fact that there are two photographs on this particular link is irrelevant. It is not that the dress looks one colour in one photograph and a different colour in the other one. It is that some people see blue and black and others see white and gold in the same photograph.

Light blue and gold

Apparently someone who has the sheer chutzpah to claim to have designed and made this abomination of a garment now says that it is white and gold. In the words of PrivateEye, this one will run and run.

Well I saw it twice on Facebook. The first one was white and gold and the second one was blue and black. I thought it was a hoax and there were two different dresses.

Quite obviously, pale blue and beige.

Seen it in both colours. Blue and black in TV, white and gold on my phone.

I find it mind boggling that the entire nation seems to have and want to express an opinion on this -even last night's Newsnight.
We regularly have similar arguments at home when DH refers to something as "green" or "blue" and of course I am right that it is turquoise.

Observed colour as I said is dependant on the colour temperature of the ambient light. Incandescent bulbs (if you still have any) will give a very different result to fluorescent tubes. When I am processing photos I have a special "daylight" lamp which gives me a consistent light source with a similar temperature to average daylight (daylight varies enormously).
The general colour of the surrounding environment will also trick the brain into seeing colours differently. When editing images on my PC, if the colours are important, I have a large grey card that surrounds the screen to prevent my eye being influenced by my blue walls in the room.

If you are still awake by now - try looking at the same photo on several different screens, phone, ipad, laptop, PC with CRT monitor.

I still use a CRT monitor for photos as I can calibrate it to match my printer. There are special flat screen monitors available but at £1000 plus, I stick to my old CRT.

Gold and white

If you want to get really confused, look at it on the Roman Originals website.
It's actually called the bodycon dress and it comes in four colours.

What's more important is that it is dry clean only.

Thai is very interesting [Pompa] I have tried looking at the photo on various equipment and the degree of blue and black varies, but I have never seen it as gold and white. Never. My daughter can see nothing but!