Man in Viral Dress Photo Pleads Guilty to Wife’s Strangulation

The man whose 2015 photo of a dress caused an internet sensation has pleaded guilty to strangling his wife.

Keir Johnston, 38, recently pleaded guilty to attacking his wife, Grace, during an assault that occurred on March 6, 2022, People Magazine reported. He has yet to be sentenced.

Johnston was indicted following the incident, which involved him pinning his wife to the ground, straddling her, and choking her. During that incident, he also threatened to kill her and waved a knife. He reportedly told her, “Somebody is going to die,” according to testimony in the High Court in Glasgow, Scotland, on May 9, The Guardian reported.

Grace called for help, saying, “My husband is trying to kill me.”

Chris Macintosh, prosecutor for the crown, told the judge in the case that Grace had few options since the couple lived on the remote Isle of Colonsay.

“There is no permanent police presence on the island, and she was in a situation where she felt trapped,” Macintosh said, according to the Guardian.

The incident began after Johnston discovered Grace had gone to a job interview on the mainland, defying his demands that she not go. Prior to the attack, Johnston was reportedly drinking at a pub and texted his wife: “You should support me but you do not.”

He then went home and passed out. When Grace returned to their home, he “woke up and said that he was going to leave her,” Macintosh told the court. “She went outside the property to stop him leaving. He followed her and pinned her to the ground.”

“[Johnston] placed both knees on her arms, so she was unable to move,” Macintosh added. “He then began strangling her with both his hands. She was initially able to scream and feared for her life and believed Johnston intended to kill her as he was very forceful.”

Grace received several severe bruises from the attack but did not require medical attention.

Johnston’s defense attorney, Marco Guarino, told the court that his client had accepted responsibility for the attack, but the judge, Lady Drummond, denied bail, saying: “I have no need to tell you that this is a serious and violent offense.”

“You repeatedly strangled her, injured her and put her life in danger in what must have been absolutely terrifying circumstances for her,” she added. “I am afraid, Mr Johnston, that your status has now changed, you have been convicted of a very serious crime and you will be remanded meantime.”

Johnston is set to be sentenced on June 6.

Johnston and Grace became famous in 2015 after he posted a photo of a dress Grace’s mother planned to wear at their wedding. The photo posted online showed the dress as either black and blue or white and gold depending on the viewer. Subsequent images of the dress showed that it was a vibrant blue and black, but the original picture fooled man, including this reporter.

From this day on, the world will be divided into two people. Blue & black, or white & gold. http://t.co/xJeR7GldwP pic.twitter.com/i6BwVzPzSZ

— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) February 27, 2015

New York University neuroscientist Pascal Wallisch explained that people saw the dress differently because of how the brain processes assumptions based on how the dress was illuminated.

“The original image was overexposed, rendering the illumination source uncertain,” Wallisch. “As a result, we make assumptions about how the dress was illuminated, which affects the colors we see.”

If people assumed the dress was photographed in a shadow, it may appear gold and white, while those who believed it was illuminated by artificial light saw it as black and blue.

“This is a basic cognitive function: to appreciate the color on an object, the illumination source has to be taken into account, which the brain does continuously,” Wallisch added.

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