An Orpington shop has enjoyed a stampede of sales after a debate over the colour of one of its dresses went viral.

The Roman Originals store at Walnuts Shopping Centre is basking in an unexpected moment in the spotlight after a photo of one the womenswear chain’s two-tone dresses sparked a fierce online debate.

Millions of people took to social media last week to argue over which colours they saw in the image – blue and black or white and gold.

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Supervisor Joanne Reeve, 31, said: “We have got lots of the dresses on hold now and we’ve had lots of people coming into the shops just to take pictures with the dress.

“We all saw different colours ourselves. My brother and dad could see blue and black but I could see white and gold. It freaked us out.”

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The picture of what became known as #TheDress was first posted on Tumblr by 21-year-old Caitlin Mitchell, from Scotland, after she noticed her friends saw different colours in the photograph.

Until today, the dress has only been available in black, blue and black and cream and black, despite many claiming they saw white and gold colours in the famous photo. 

The designers behind the global sensation have announced a limited-edition run of the dress in white and gold with one being auctioned off to raise money for Comic Relief.

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