#Dressgate-What color is the dress? The dress which became the talk of the town

Updated on March 29, 2015

This season we all are bleeding blue. And we all have a substantial reason to do so. But then,why is the rest of the world bleeding blue? The last I checked these nations did not swear by cricket. And even if they swore by cricket, they definitely did not bleed blue. Things are changing, it seems. What in the world you are saying?  The American media not so long ago lit a bonfire for the world media. What followed next was phenomenal. The world power and the wanting to be world power sat down to discuss a DRESS! If you live under a rock, let me update you.

In the good old days when Uncle Billy was the President of the United States of America, a particular intern devotedly trailed behind him. Monica Lewinsky quickly got promoted from ‘the White House intern’ to ‘the other woman’ in possession of ‘the dress’. Even Nelson Shank’s famous (or, infamous) portrait of Billy had Miss. Lewinsky’s dress discreetly hidden in the background (just as their hidden affair). Eventually, Monica Lewinsky was written off by the world. Their infamous affair took a backseat in everybody’s mind. The only thing which the world held onto was the DRESS! Today the GAP dress is worth million dollars as it has Mr. Clinton’s semen on it (thrilling, right?).

About half-a-decade later there’s another ‘the dress‘ which has become a hot topic for adults. This time ‘the dress’ has been advertised by Brit lady Laura Coleman. The Roman Originals dress threw the virtual world into a frenzy. Laura, a model by profession asked a seemingly innocent question-what color is this dress? Some said white-gold, others blue-black and the speculation (became a tribulation for people like me) went on.

The dress
What color are you?

Here’s the answer-it’s blue. But then, it also seems to be a lot many other colors. Well, that is biology, you see. As you know, sunlight plays an important role in our perception of the dress color. The light which makes way through the lens of each one of our eyes breaks into different wavelengths. This then hits the retina which establishes a connection with the visual cortex. The color perceiving part of the brain minuses the real color from the object and informs you about the actual reflectance.

In usual cases, the difference between the two is very slight. But in this case even Jay Neitz, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington who has studied color vision for 30 long years associates with our  perplexed state of mind. His eyes perceive the dress  to be white-and-gold.

Dressgate
Pick a color

The dress is blue , period! The dress would seem orange to some on a black surface. Then there are those who would see it as white on the same surface. You might see it as red, green, pink, yellow, but tell your mind to quit playing games with you as you already know the dress to be blue.

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