People Are Wearing ‘The Dress’ In Public And On TV, Getting Amazing Reactions

While the internet’s obsession with the famous blue and black and/or white and gold dress is winding down, some people are choosing to purchase the viral outfit and wear it in public, just to see what kind of reactions they get. Even weeks later, “the dress” is still causing a stir all around the world as one of the most recognized articles of clothing ever made.

One lifestyle enthusiast and blogger for Bustle named Ko Im bought the dress and wore it around for a weekend, seeing if anyone would notice. The response was instantaneous. Im wore it around at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Not long after she started touring the art museum, the guide of her group announced to the others that Ko was wearing “the dress.” In response to this, someone else in the tour group said “I knew it,” and asked to snap a photo with Im in front of the artwork.

I found “the dress”at the MET next to Van Gogh!! #WorksOfArt #EmptyMET #blackandblue pic.twitter.com/6jt7L9csq8

— Emily Kindred (@EmilyKindred) March 7, 2015

While at the museum, the blogger also posted a far-away photo of herself and tweeted it, giving no hints about what she was wearing. One of her followers recognized it immediately. Shortly after, Ko Im took a ride on the subway and had the dress pointed out by a little girl who said it was “the Dress from TV,” even with a coat over it. When Im arrived at the baby shower she was attending, she accidentally became the center of attention — taking focus from the baby simply because of her viral clothing.

Throughout the rest of her experience in the dress, Ko Im had several people take photos of her, some even sneaking snapshots while she wasn’t looking. During the experience, the blogger noted that the image has become so ubiquitous that it has almost taken on a life of its own.

“It began to dawn on me that the picture was separate from The Dress, and The Dress was separate from me. Subsequently, I couldn’t help but wonder whether I was wearing The Dress or whether The Dress was wearing me?”

The outfit has not only been talked about on major mainstream news shows and had dedicated segments on shows like Ellen, an American Idol contestant even dared to wear the all-powerful dress on the show. Jax was one the most talked-about contestant of the show that week after singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in the notorious black and blue getup.

even with @jax wearing the actual dress I still see white/gold in the pic #idol pic.twitter.com/yWYwCb4Kjl

— Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) March 6, 2015

Rarely has an internet meme gained so much notoriety in such a short time, especially something as mundane as a dress. While many were obsessed with the science of the dress and what it told us about differences in color perception, others like Ko Im were more interested in the power of recognition. Memes like the dress illustrate how happy many people seem to be to have something familiar to discuss. At the very least, it gives you something to talk about.