--- title: The Dress That Broke the Internet, and the Woman Who Started It All description: Caitlin McNeill had no idea she would start something that would be tweeted by Taylor Swift canonical: https://time.com/3725628/the-dress-caitlin-mcneill-post-tumblr-viral/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-27T09:07:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:02:58.312Z og:title: The Woman Behind The Dress og:description: Caitlin McNeill had no idea what her post would do to the Internet. og:url: https://time.com/3725628/the-dress-caitlin-mcneill-post-tumblr-viral/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18e58f64227b36d1/69878185cd68482a31099ee2/dress-tout.jpg?branch=production&width=495&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 495 og:image:height: 278 og:image:alt: dress tout og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Woman Behind The Dress twitter:description: Caitlin McNeill had no idea what her post would do to the Internet. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18e58f64227b36d1/69878185cd68482a31099ee2/dress-tout.jpg?branch=production&width=495&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Dress That Broke the Internet, and the Woman Who Started It All > Sponsored content. 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The internet weighed in. by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Feb 27, 2015 9:07 AM UTC On Thursday, Scottish musician Caitlin McNeill [posted](http://swiked.tumblr.com/post/112073818575/guys-please-help-me-is-this-dress-white-and) a picture of a dress on micro-blogging website Tumblr with the caption “guys please help me — is this dress white and gold, or blue and black? Me and my friends can’t agree and we are freaking the f\*\*\* out.” The Internet freaked out as well, after BuzzFeed posed McNeill’s question to its readers. The post, entitled “What Colors Are This Dress?”, has already been viewed [nearly 21 million times](http://time.com/3725625/dress-viral-internet-white-gold-blue-black/) and sparked off a heated global debate that saw [celebrities](http://time.com/3725450/dress-taylor-swift-black-blue-white-gold-celebrities/), [sportspeople](http://time.com/3725545/the-dress-black-blue-white-gold-color-sports-dodgers/) and, well, pretty much everyone weighing in. “What happened was two of my close friends were actually getting married and the mother of the bride took a photo of the dress to send to her daughter,” McNeill, whose band Canach performed at the wedding on the tiny Scottish island of Colonsay, [explained](http://www.businessinsider.com/origin-of-white-gold-or-black-blue-dress-2015-2) to Business Insider. “When my friend showed the dress to her fiancée, they disagreed on the color.” ### 6 Dresses That Are Way More Famous Than #TheDress  Portrait of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco and Princess Grace (Grace Kelly) on their wedding day on April 19, 1956 in Monaco. Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images  First Lady Jackie Kennedy wearing a fitted silk apricot dress and triple strand of pearls, walking through crowds at Udaipur during visit to India, 1962. Art Rickerby—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Marilyn Monroe poses over the updraft of a New York subway grating while in character for the filming of 'The Seven Year Itch' in Manhattan on Sept. 15, 1954. Matty Zimmerman—AP  This is a photo from page 2991 of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report showing Monica Lewinsky's dress which was tested for physical evidence of a relationship between President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. OIC/AP  Jennifer Lopez wears Versace at the 42nd Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles on Feb. 23, 2000. Scott Gries—Getty Images  President Barack Obama introduced his wife Michelle at the Commander-In-Chief Ball after his inauguration held at the National Building Museum in Washington on Jan. 20, 2009. David Stephenson—Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT/Getty Images The band (which McNeill [told](http://www.buzzfeed.com/claudiakoerner/the-dress-is-blue-and-black-says-the-girl-who-saw-it-in-pers#.kpvwxDaEx) BuzzFeed almost didn’t make it on stage for their performance because they were so busy arguing about the dress) posted the article to their [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/canachmusic/posts/1555017118108075) with the caption “It seems like we’ve caused quite the stir online! This is madness!” Of all the celebrities that tweeted about the dress, McNeill said she’d love to meet Taylor Swift the most. “That would be something,” she told Business Insider. As for the dress, which she actually saw on the bride’s mother at the wedding: “Obviously it was blue and black.” _Read next:_ [_This May Be Why You’re Seeing the Dress as White and Gold_](http://time.com/3725528/dress-explainer-white-gold-blue-black-science/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ### 44 First Lady Fashion Looks from Eleanor Roosevelt to Michelle Obama  President Franklin D. Roosevelt with his wife Eleanor voting in a Hyde Park polling station, 1937. Pictures Inc.—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Eleanor Roosevelt with Doris Fleeson, 1937. Thomas D. McAvoy—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Eleanor Roosevelt walking and talking with the commanding officer of a group of American paratroopers, 1942. David E. Scherman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Bess Truman sitting at a desk, 1946. Marie Hansen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Bess Truman waving to crowd as her husband, President Harry S. Truman, and daugther Margaret look on during Army Day, 1946. George Skadding—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Bess Truman looking over a table full of baked goods, 1949. Francis Miller—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  General Dwight D. Eisenhower walking with his wife Mamie, 1948. Francis Miller—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Mamie Eisenhower posing in her inaugural ball gown with a jeweled purse encrusted with 3,456 pink pearls, 1953. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Mamie Eisenhower at the North Portico, 1958\. Featured on the cover of LIFE. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Four past, present and future first ladies at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration ceremony, including (L-R) Pat Nixon, Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson and new First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, 1961. George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy riding in car with wife Jackie Kennedy upon return home from Democratic National Convention, 1960. Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie chatting with poet Robert Frost at a party for Nobel Prize winners at the White House, 1962. Art Rickerby—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  First Lady Jackie Kennedy standing on the grounds of the Taj Mahal during visit to India, 1962. Art Rickerby—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackie Kennedy on the first day of a trip to India, 1962. Art Rickerby—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  President of Senegal Leopold Senghor with Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson during the first anniversary of independence from France, 1961. Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Lady Bird Johnson, 1964. Stan Wayman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  President Lyndon Johnson sitting on porch swing with wife Claudia (Lady Bird) on the morning following his landslide election win, 1964. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Richard M. Nixon and his wife Pat talking with photographers during the 1952 convention. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife Pat in formal dress reflected in oval mirror, 1958. Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Pat Nixon, wife of presidential candidate Richard Nixon, on the campaign trail, 1968. Arthur Schatz—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Chinese premier Chou-En-Lai, First Lady Pat Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during Nixon's visit to China, 1972. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Newly appointed Vice President Gerald R. Ford with wife Betty and (clockwise from L) daughter Susan, sons John and Steve at home, 1973. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Georgia Governor and future American president Jimmy Carter kissing his wife, Rosalynn, 1971. Stan Wayman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  California gubernatorial candidate Ronald Reagan holding hands with wife Nancy while on the campaign trail, 1966. Bill Ray—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Nancy Reagan, 1967. Fred Lyon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  California Governor Ronald Reagan with wife Nancy, hosting social evening during conference of GOP governors, 1968. Arthur Schatz—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Future First Lady Barbara Bush on the golf course, 1971. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ambassador George H.W. Bush and wife Barbara, 1971. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Class leader and future First Lady and Senator Hillary Rodham (later Clinton) of Wellesley College talking about student protests which she supported in her commencement speech, 1969. Lee Balterman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3725628/the-dress-caitlin-mcneill-post-tumblr-viral/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3725628/the-dress-caitlin-mcneill-post-tumblr-viral/"},"headline":"The Dress That Broke the Internet, and the Woman Who Started It All","datePublished":"2015-02-27T09:07:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T09:02:58.312Z","description":"Caitlin McNeill had no idea she would start something that would be tweeted by Taylor Swift","url":"https://time.com/3725628/the-dress-caitlin-mcneill-post-tumblr-viral/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Tumblr","wedding","Scotland"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18e58f64227b36d1/69878185cd68482a31099ee2/dress-tout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18e58f64227b36d1/69878185cd68482a31099ee2/dress-tout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"dress tout","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3725628/the-dress-caitlin-mcneill-post-tumblr-viral/","name":"The Dress That Broke the Internet, and the Woman Who Started It All"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"REAL TIME: The Dress That Broke The Internet","description":"Musician Caitlin McNeill posted a a picture of dress to Tumblr and asked what color it was. 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