The viral dress which divided the internet questioning whether it was blue and black or white and gold has left a trail of devastation in its wake.
Yesterday, MailOnline reported how Keir Johnston turned on terrified Grace Johnston, pinned her to the floor and brandished a knife at their home on the Isle of Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides.
The attack, on March 6, 2022, came seven years after the couple gained worldwide fame for the dress the mother of the bride wore at their wedding.
It sparked a global debate over its colours, with people left unable to decide whether it was black and blue or white and gold.
The item was nicknamed ‘The Dress That Broke the Internet’ because of the extraordinary reaction it garnered online.
The couple even appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in the US, where they were handed $10,000 (£8,000) and a luxury trip to Grenada.
But along with Johnston’s 11-year abusive campaign, the dress also caused a rift between Mrs Johnston and her mother and a charity was blasted for using The Dress in a campaign about violence against women in a string of controversies.
The Dress (pictured) shot to worldwide fame after a debate over whether it was black and blue
Keir Johnston (right) pinned Grace Johnston (left) to the floor and brandished a knife
The couple appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Showwhere they were handed a £8,000 trip
Celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift also shared it. The couple went on to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The picture of the outfit was first posted online by Caitlin McNeill, a then 21-year-old aspiring singer from Scotland, after noticing her friends saw different colours in the photograph.
Even celebrities weighed in on the fashion debate, with Kim Kardashian asking her followers to help settle a disagreement between herself and Kanye West.
The photograph that started the internet storm was taken by Cecilia Bleasdale while she was deciding on what to wear to her daughter’s upcoming wedding.
Ms Bleasdale sent the picture of the frock to her daughter to ask the bride-to-be what she thought. Grace, in turn, shared it with her then-fiance, Keir Johnston.
The couple disagreed over the colours of the dress, so Grace sought more opinions online.
The bride-to-be then posted the picture on Facebook, and her friends continued to debate the colour of the dress.
The debate was forgotten until Ms McNeill, a close friend of the newlyweds, posted the picture on Tumblr days after the wedding, which took place on the Scottish island of Colonsay.
Ms McNeill, whose folk band played at the ceremony, shared the photograph on a fan page dedicated to talent manager Sarah Weichel.
The Salvation Army was blasted for using it in a campaign about violence against women
Photo by retailer Roman Originals of the two-tone dress that has sparked a global debate
But nearly 10 years on from the wedding and the dress, a judge heard this week that there had been a history of ‘domestic abuse’ from Johnston, now 38, towards his wife.
The petrol station attendant pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting Ms Johnston to her injury and the danger of life.
Prosecutor Chris Macintosh said Ms Johnston had suffered previous domestic violence – including her husband trying to strangle her – before the attack in 2022.
They married in 2015 and the photo of the dress was posted on Tumblr a few days later.
Ms Bleasdale, Mrs Johnston’s mother, was offered a free dress by the retailer Roman Originals after it went viral but it was claimed she was upset she didn’t get more items.
At one point The Dress became the cause of a rift between the mother and daughter, with Ms Bleasdale admitting they had a ‘falling out’ and now ‘just don’t talk about it’.
The couple who actually took the photo – Paul Jinks and Ms Bleasdale – told the BBC at the time they felt ‘completely left out from the story’ and ‘we had no control.’
They even hired a solicitor and are considered taking legal action to protect their copyright in the picture.
The string of bad luck which has followed the outfit began on the day of the wedding, when folksinger Ms McNeill performed with her band.
Even after seeing that the dress was ‘obviously blue and black’ in reality, the musicians remained preoccupied.
The picture of the outfit was first posted online by Caitlin McNeill, a then 21-year-old aspiring singer from Scotland, after noticing her friends saw different colours in the photograph
They said they almost failed to make it on stage because they were caught up discussing the dress.
The curse of The Dress didn’t end there, with The Salvation Army becoming embroiled in a row when they were accused of using it in a tasteless manner with the slogan ‘Why is it so hard to see black and blue?’
It built on the viral sensation in its campaign to send a message about violence against women.
While social media users were quick to praise the move, many slammed the charity for using the dress in a campaign about such a sensitive issue.
One user posted on X, then Twitter: ‘There is just something absolutely stomach-churning about covering a beautiful woman in fake blood & bruises for ‘awareness’.
‘Like, a beautiful woman just lounging there, apparently not afraid or in pain. She makes violence against women look sexy, and that’s gross.’
The retailer of the dress, Roman Originals, reported a surge in sales and produced a one-off version in white and gold sold for charity after the social media sensation.
The Dress was later confirmed as a royal blue ‘Lace Bodycon Dress’ from the retailer Roman Originals, to the disappointment of those who believed it to be gold.
But things seemed to have ended happily for the wedding’s folksinger, who shared a photo on X in 2021 captioned: ‘Law degree is done’.
It read: ‘Dissertation is submitted, law degree is done, the sun is shining and the 4G router is (at least temporarily, she’s a bit fickle) beaming WiFi into my caravan bed.
‘What more could ye want?’
According to her social media, she now works as an Islands Culture Officer for the non-profit group Argyll & Isles.