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 This explains how the blue black white gold dress illusion was possible. But it doesn't explain why some people saw it one way and some saw it the other, and no one seemed to see Ellen Debuts #TheDress: Real Story Behind #WhiteandGold and the Wedding That Started It All Dressgate: If you saw THAT dress as white your brain was working overtime Is That Dress White and Gold or Blue and Black? The New York Times