When you use a transparent background on <select> , browsers insert a white background on the drop-down. It doesn't show up in the style inspector & can be a big problem if your text is also white! One Two Three Four Five

But this can be easily fixed with background on the individual <option> elements. Thanks to @Ravilov for the tip! One Two Three Four Five

Of course, you can also just give the <select> a solid background, and it will be used for the dropdown. One Two Three Four Five