But then you would have light bleed around the edges. Unless you are in an extremely dark room, reflection and diffusion would make the curved edges of the dress receive some of that outside light. Yet the floor at the foot of the dress is well lit.
Back to my original conception of things: understanding of lighting and photography makes the white-gold seem impossible.
I do not deny that people can instinctually miss these details… But I am surprised that further analysis doesn’t inevitably resolve in these conclusions.













For that to work, the light would have to be exactly behind the dress (it is coming from the top based on what we can see), and the surrounding room dark. Otherwise you get “light bleed” along the sides of any curved object due to reflection and ambient refraction.