February 26, 2015 was a day that messed with a lot of our minds! It was the day that we were asked…

Is it white & gold or blue & black?? What team were you on?

A study of 1,400 respondents found that 57% saw the dress as blue and black, 30% as white and gold, and about 10% as blue and brown, while approximately 10% could switch between any of the color combinations.

A better question may be: why is it so hard to tell? It’s an optical illusion. We perceive the color depending on the context clues that help us interpret the amount of light in a room or space. When cues about the ambient light are missing, people may perceive the same color in different ways.

Some people see a white and gold dress in dark shadow.

Some people see a blue and black dress washed out in bright light.

Some people see one interpretation and then switch to the other.

Nobody could definitively be wrong or right without knowing these details. One thing is for sure; it got a lot of people talking! There were more than 1 million tweets about it in the first week alone. It was deemed “#TheDress” and it’s even a Halloween costume this year.

By the way, the dress was confirmed to be blue and black!

Is it #TimeForAnEyeExam? Pay Clarke EyeCare Center a visit!