The last question of White House press secretary Josh Earnest’s Friday briefing was the one that had fascinated social media the previous night: Is the dress white and gold, or is it blue and black?
A picture of the dress in question was originally posted by a Tumblr user and picked up by a number of websites. Some who saw the photo were sure it was blue with black lace, and others saw it as white with gold lace.
{mosads}Social media users quickly became obsessed with the garment, with a BuzzFeed post about the photo garnering more than 25 million views in less than a day.
Earnest, however, said that he could not say whether the president was among them. “I haven’t had an opportunity to talk to him about that specifically, but I did compliment my colleague Jen Friedman on her white and gold outfit today,” he said, gesturing to his right.
An aide who entered the briefing room right before Earnest was wearing a black dress with a blue blazer.
While the White House remained reticent to comment on what has become known online simply as The Dress, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been more forthcoming — with several using the meme to liven up various issues before Congress.