Can you guys tell me what color this dress is?
Taylor Swift is "confused and scared."
A blue-gold dress in a white-gold world
Ten years ago last month, everyone saw this photograph:
The quality of this photograph is less than optimal, but observers at the time agreed it depicted a dress. All over the world, people said, “Nice dress!” And the dress said, “Thanks guys!” and everyone moved on to solving the climate crisis, which is why all the glaciers stopped melting.
Anyway, that’s what I remember happening. I’m just gonna do some quick googling around to confirm my factual accuracy. I’ll be right back in a few minutes. In the meantime, enjoy this video.
OK I’m back. You know what? I was wrong. Everyone disagreed about the color of the dress and we all hated each other for seeing different colors than the colors that we thought were the colors. What’s more: glaciers still melting.
Which team were you? Were you #blueandblack or #whiteandgold? Do you even remember?
Contemporaneous reporting tells us that this photo originated in a text exchange between a Scottish mom and her daughter. The daughter thought the dress in the photo was white and gold, but the mom said something to the effect of, “No, this dress that I have in my possession and can see with my own eyes is blue and black.”
Somehow that wasn’t the end of it. The daughter posted the photo on Facebook, and all her friends argued about it. Then one of her friends posted it on Tumblr, where strangers started arguing with each other about it. That’s when BuzzFeed’s Tumblr editor1 spotted it and saw nothing but gold and gold. After BuzzFeed shared the photo, #TheDress suddenly had the attention of millions of internetians.
By this point, humanity’s collective psyche seemingly was overtaken by this overexposed momphone jpeg. Our most famous internet celebrities began to weigh in, as public figures in 2015 were required to have the right opinion about everything happening all the time in order to keep in good standing with the WWW power-users who hate them. Wikipedia has helpfully divided the era’s luminaries by visual perception:
A tweet by the American songwriter Taylor Swift, in which she saw the dress as blue and black and said she was "confused and scared"—was retweeted 111,134 times and liked 154,188 times. Jaden Smith, Frankie Muniz, Demi Lovato, Mindy Kaling, and Justin Bieber saw the dress as blue and black, while Anna Kendrick, B. J. Novak, Katy Perry, Julianne Moore, and Sarah Hyland saw it as white and gold. Kim Kardashian tweeted that she saw it as white and gold, while her then-husband Kanye West saw it as blue and black. Lucy Hale, Phoebe Tonkin, and Katie Nolan saw different colour schemes at different times. Lady Gaga described the dress as "periwinkle and sand", while David Duchovny called it teal.
Writers and journalists found no bole too hyper in chronicling the dress hullabaloo: The Washington Post claimed the photo “divided a planet,” and BuzzFeed somewhat self-congratulatingly proclaimed Feb. 26, 2015, as “The Internet's Greatest Day.”
This explosion of frivolous discourse would reverberate in pop culture for the proceeding days and months. Roman Originals, the company that produced the dress, sold out of its stock within 30 minutes the next day. (Copycat dresses proliferated, and even cheap knockoffs with split color schemes became a popular Halloween costume.) The Scottish mom, daughter, daughter’s friend, and daughter’s newlywed husband were flown from Scotland to Los Angeles for an exclusive interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Advertisers did their best to siphon the attention, sometimes creating their own divisive provocations.
I remember seeing the dress photo a decade ago, probably on Twitter. I don’t remember what colors I saw, but I recall seeing it one way or another, then hearing some people saw it another way, which made me wonder if I could see it the way they saw it. Like a Magic Eye, I crossed my eyes until the illusion revealed itself.
Then I wondered what color the dress actually was. In the immediate haze of the online chaos, the answer was frustratingly difficult to procure. There was an almost universal disinterest in finding the truth, all while almost everyone felt compelled to publicize an opinion about what they saw. (As evidence, look again at the Washington Post’s day-after coverage, which neglected to mention the real-life dress’s actual color.)
Was I the only one who wanted to know? Maybe being part of the conversation felt more important than contributing useful information. Or maybe the fun is lost when facts preclude a spirited debate. Or maybe the truth is always just a secondary interest at best, or an afterthought at worst.
It’s not unusual for different people to see something differently when they’re shown the same thing. But I have a hard time understanding why different people seeing different things wouldn’t want to try to figure out what they’re actually seeing, especially in a world where we’re constantly confronted with confusing information. In my ideal world, I’d like to think someone would’ve posted the dress photo and said, “Isn’t it interesting how this blue-and-black dress might appear to look white-and-gold in this terrible photo?” And all others would have replied, “Yes, quite!” And then we would all move on to solving the climate crisis.
I don’t say that to pat this hypothetical REC World on the back. (But way to solve the climate crisis, REC World. Splendid work.) What I mean to say is, sometimes I feel out of place in this world, which seems to find more purpose in taking a side than finding the truth. In fact, in this world, the side you take is the truth. In this world, you’re discouraged from seeing the distinction.
Just think of all the times you’ve unwittingly been on a side, perhaps your whole life, just to learn one day that there was a whole other side no one told you about. Did it completely upend your previously unimpeachable version of the truth? Dear Email Club member, I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. I’m ashamed to admit these confrontations with new, veracious perspectives almost never result in immediate adjustments to my sense of reality. Usually there’s a defensive reflex in me, as though my very identity is challenged. Eventually I’ll try to transfigure the truth into a partial fiction that reserves dignity for the dying lies I can’t yet let go of. Finally, in little moments of humility and emotional balance here and there, I let curiosity overtake certitude. I am transfigured; the truth is not.
Unless we’re talking about the color of a dress. Then I just want to know the color of the dress.
I know it was a silly argument we all had on the internet a decade ago. But I think #TheDress is worth a reexamination. Were we really just having some lighthearted fun? Or did it provoke something more primal?
Or maybe it was both: Taking sides is our nature, and it’s fun. Lately though, I worry some folks are having too much fun to care about what’s true.
REC Etiquette Guide feedback
In response to the Ryan Email Club Etiquette Guide’s guidance on public transit, Marina W. had this to say:
Thank you for the highly informed newsletter. However, there were a few points that I much cordially disagree on. Regarding the "old" person, as a Canadian, I feel it is my duty to offer my seat to the physically teetering. However, to appear less condescending, I bow my head and offer an outstretched arm, as if to say "your grace". Wouldn't that be nice? That way, instead of feeling old, the subject can feel like royalty.
And I must disagree with your point about pregnancy. After a heavy meal, I often feign pregnancy on public transit hoping someone will offer me a seat. Better yet with the "your Grace" gesticulation. Unfortunately, this has never happened.
Marina, I treasure your perspective as a Canadian member of the Email Club. I can assure you, the RECEG’s Cultural Considerations Key2 offers extensive heedance to Canadian preferences.
As a dutiful Canadian, you have essentially described the exact adjustments the RECEG specifies for your compatriots: the bowing, the “your grace” gesticulations, even the pronounced common suspicion of liars and con artists.
Please rest assured that you’re on solid footing in your Canadian interpretation of the RECEG and, by extension, reality.
Do you have a question about etiquette?
Whether it concerns public transit, public urinals, or something else entirely, the REC Etiquette Guide has all the answers!
Reply to this email, leave a comment, or send me a message, and I’ll respond in next week’s email.
Click Roulette
The below links match one of the two descriptions provided for each. Click at your own peril!
CLICK HERE FOR LINK ONE. This is either:
A craigslist ad seeking day laborers who can help with processing tax returns for the federal government.
A chimpanzee absolutely crushing human competition in a memory game.
CLICK HERE FOR LINK TWO. This is either:
An AI chatbot that helps veterans reschedule their upcoming medical appointments for 2029.
A lion absolutely crushing human competition in a tug of war.
CLICK HERE FOR LINK THREE. This is either:
An online quiz that helps unemployed workers determine their overall level of merit.
A pug enjoying a massage gun.
Tortoise pic of the week
Wordle hint (SPOILER)
The year is 2027. The U.S. is devastated by an extended trade war and exhausted of its allies. Bird flu has decimated livestock; a single egg costs $112. A protracted conflict rages across Europe. But a glimmer of hope flashes amid the darkness: PENIS is finally the word of the day.
Song of the week
Notes app note of the week
Neighbors know my name
— Note from Oct. 19, 2013
Buttons
This was an actual job title in 2015, a job that existed for about as long as antimatter exists in controlled laboratory experiments.
The RECEG sets U.S. cultural customs as the default, though editors may revise this position as the United States becomes a pariah hermit state.
Some people say I'm stubborn, but I don't think I am. The more likely scenario is that I have never been on the wrong side. Anyway, I'm very excited to one shot wordle for the first time in a couple of years as I eat my $300 breakfast sandwich. Thanks for the tip!
Pretty sure this debacle re-emerged the "What if my green is actually your red?" discourse. See stoned realization meme guy.