Fine, Let's Talk About The Dress (And Your Unreliable Eyesight)

Did you spend your waning hours on planet earth being driven mad by #TheDress last night, when you could have been making precious memories with loved ones or volunteering in a soup kitchen? Yeah, don't worry, everyone was right there with you. If you don't know about The Dress, the best thing you can do is just walk away right now.

Still here? Okay, here's the Tumblr post that started it all:

And then everyone talked about it. Taylor Swift saw black and blue:

Anna Kendrick saw white and gold:

Kanye saw black and blue, but Kim saw white and gold:

Meanwhile, CNN talked to the dress's designer:

The Today Show BOOKED the dress:

Anna Wintour's Vogue was even dragged into this viral mess. VOGUE!

Anyway, some people saw the dress as black and blue, and some saw it as white and gold. For many, it switched colors at some point. Those who were seeing black and blue saw white and gold, and vice versa. Some people can now see BOTH. This is because of science, or aliens...

But probably science—according to Wired, even though the dress is blue and black, the photo was messing with us because it "hits some kind of perceptual boundary." Their takes from various experts, including a neuroscientist, can be found here. And Mashable offered this up from an ophthalmologist: "Scientifically it has to do with the lighting and reflectivity of the material. But who gives a F? God help us if that's a story."

God help us, indeed. As the world burns, this is the late capitalist optical illusion American consumers deserve.

The TL;DR of all of this is summed up nicely in one Vine. (Update: it's been brought to our attention that not everyone sees both color ways in this Vine! Man, The Dress is craaaazy.)

You can buy the dress here, Halloween is only 8 months away.

UPDATE: