Is this dress blue and black or white and gold?

The fabric of a dress nearly caused the fabric of the Internet to unravel Thursday night, with people engaged in spirited debate over the color of the $80 item, reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano.

What colors do you see when you look at it? Black and blue or white and gold?

"Everyone went to DEFCON 5 immediately when someone disagreed. It was like you were questioning something even more fundamental than their religion," Wired articles editor Adam Rogers said.

The controversy over "dress-gate" began on a Tumblr page where a user asked others to help her decide the true color of the dress.

The debate dominated online discussion. It racked up more than 20 million views on Buzzfeed, became the number one trend on Twitter and drew a deep divide in some relationships -- even celebrities joined in. Taylor Swift was on team black and blue while Anna Kendrick had allegiance was with the white and gold.

Explanations on why you see what you see range from the settings on your monitor to the lighting in the room and even the inner workings of the human eye and brain.