The (blue and black) dress that is tearing the Internet apart

A simple dress has done what Kim Kardashian never could: broken the Internet.

A debate is raging on the Internet and in the living rooms of the first world over what colour this dress, first seen on Tumblr, truly is.

According to a poll on BuzzFeed 72 per cent of people see the dress as white and gold, while 28 per cent think it’s black and blue.

The debate over #TheDress has even spread to Hollywood where celebrities from Taylor Swift to Jimmy Fallon are weighing in.

Now, Black and Blue might be a minor Backstreet Boys album but it is majorly the correct colour of the dress.

Dedicated team #blueandblack members have brought forward some rather convincing proof for their side.

Despite a valiant effort from team #whiteandgold, the original poster sent out a photo of the dress in a different light and confirmed it was the same one up for sale at Roman Originals.

UPDATE: The retailer has confirmed the dress is blue and black.

The hashtags #blueandblack and #whiteandgold peaked at 300 tweets per minute on Twitter on Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.

Note from Diana Pereira, editor: I want to edit the headline to say gold and white but the writer, Sarah-Joyce Battersby, sees blue and black. I wish I was kidding.

What colour is the dress? You tell us. Submit your comments below.