This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSD chapter.
I still remember the day I heard the news. I remember how frightened my suite mates were, rushing in and asking everyone if “they’d seen it yet.” I still get nightmares about the worldwide panic that sprung from this monstrosity. Despite given the time to recuperate from this global catastrophe, there is still the looming question-Is the dress black and blue…or white and gold???
Thursday, February 26, 2015, was a day that will go down in history as one of those legendary moments that define who we are and what mankind represents. It was a day of international conflict, battled out on the grounds of Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram and Yik Yak alike. Alliances were formed and enemies were made, especially when Taylor Swift herself, claimed the “black and blue” side, thereby acquiring an army of support to face those brave enough to dissent. Just when we all thought Kim Kardashian’s rather provocative picture broke the Internet, this one article of clothing deconstructed everything all over again. People everywhere, swept by the frenzy, turned to every social media site to demand an answer.
By the time this scandalous image had circulated the Internet, it had already received 209,000,000 hits on Google, had its own Facebook group (per color combination) had undergone its fair share of online public approval polls and debates. One dress had commanded the attention of nearly every individual.
But perhaps the issue does not lie in the optical perception of what color this dress is, but prods at the even larger concern that the world had just witnessed a global epidemic…over a dress. This one trivial question had transformed into an international affair. So why, and how, did this one menial debate spark such hysteria and push to the forefront of public forum? For instance, on the website BuzzFeed, for every one feature article about issues, such as domestic violence in Cambodia, police brutality in urban US cities or congressional action in regards to Iran, there were twenty more articles about this blue and black (or white and gold, whichever you prefer) dress. While this optical illusion did ignite the interest of many, including myself, I find myself wondering why it deserved to have this exaggerated league of its own in the midst of larger problems and how we have managed to let it spiral out of control to such an extent.
All in all, it was rather remarkable for one dress to demand the content of every Tweet, Tumblr post, top Yak and Instagram image. As the event has since died down, February 26, 2015 will forever be known as the day mankind lost control…over a dress.