Secrets behind Buffalo's Woman in White

BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) - Through the eyes of many, she's a mystery. A well-known figure, always dressed in white from head to toe.

The "Woman in White", as she's known" wears white shoes, white paints, white shirt, white coat, and white wrapped around her face.

She's become so famous, there's video of her on YouTube.

For more than a decade people have speculated as to why she only wears the color of purity.

"I see her almost everyday. What I think, is that it's part of her religion," said Buffalo resident Paul Amodeo, "It's kind of like this on-going thing everybody talks about."

Everybody knows who she is but nobody knows much about her. Until now. News 4's Jericka Duncan recently talked with her while the two of them took a walk down Allen St. in downtown Buffalo.

The following is Jericka's first-person account of her conversation with the "Woman in White".

She told me that her name is Irene. I asked her "Do you have a family, any children?"

Yes, she replied, and asked if I had any children.

When I told her "not yet" she looked me up and down and said I had plenty of time to have a family.

Throughout our conversation I would have to lean in to hear her voice which was soft yet kind.

As we talked, I could only imagine what she must feel like when she goes out alone. People can't help but take a second glance at the two of us - an odd pair, perhaps. Irene didn't seem to notice.

After getting to know her a little I asked her that one question everyone's dying to know, "why do you only wear white?"

"It's for my allergies," she said, "I'm allergic to color.

Then she said - and this is going to blow your mind - "I'm white, my race is white."

Her hands and face show something different - skin of black, behind the white. But for Irene, her reality is clear.

"Listen, all I have to say is that some people is entitled to their own belief. Some people is caught up in they own world," said Buffalo resident Marisa Friel.

"It's a free world, she can dress how she wants to dress and feel how she wants to feel."

She stands out for how she is dressed, but as you heard, many people accept her for who she is, the Woman in White.