White After Labor Day – It’s A Thing and It’s Here to Stay

For as long as I can remember, it has been ingrained in my mind that wearing white after Labor Day was some kind of major fashion faux-pas. There is a very specific memory that has stuck with me and further entrenched the notion. I recall being in second grade standing in line to go inside after recess and talking to a third grader, who was obviously much cooler and more knowledgeable than I was based merely on the fact that she was one year older than I. I can’t recall how it came up, or even exactly what she said, but I remember her making the point known that wearing white pants after Labor Day was a major fashion offense.

For the longest time, without even stopping to ask why or where the rule came from in the first place, I accepted this third-grade logic to be the truth and tried to abide to not wearing white pants after Labor Day. Until recently, I just assumed that not wearing white after Labor Day was some sort of decree that was put into place by the fashion Gods to keep us all looking our best in the cooler fall and winter months.

A quick Google search, however, quickly reveals the history of how not wearing white after Labor Day come to be.  Many people believe that, unlike several rules of fashion, (i.e.; your belt must match your shoes) wearing white in the summer months originated out of functionality.

Until the 20th century, air conditioning did not exist, and people dressed to cover much of their body while in public. Many white materials are lighter weight and the color reflects much more sunlight than do darker colors. On top of that, the warm summer weather creates much more favorable conditions for keeping white clothing clean and dirt-free. It was simply practical to wear white during the summer months and switch to darker colors in the fall and winter months.

While the theory makes sense, it still doesn’t explain how Labor Day became the hard-and-fast date for the change of apparel.

A 2009 TIME article argues that it may have actually been American aristocrats who cemented the no white after Labor Day mantra in the 20th century. Some historians theorize that highfalutin city dwellers would escape their urban lifestyle during the summer months and retreat to warmer climates where linen suits and panama hats were a symbol of luxurious leisure. Since Labor Day has historically signaled the end of summer, those who were financially able to flee for vacation during the summer would return to real life and their conventional wardrobe. By the mid 1900’s, the guideline had solidified among the elite and developed into a full-fledged rule within the subculture.

Essentially, it became a way for the rich to differentiate themselves from those of lower class who weren’t privy to the rule of not wearing white after Labor Day. Likewise, it gave those who didn’t come from money an opportunity to climb the social ladder by proving they fit in with their knowledge of the rule.

The article in TIME asserts that not everyone buys into the theory that not being able to wear white after Labor Day is derived out of snootiness. Regardless of where you choose to believe the rule came from, let’s be real with ourselves, the rule itself is overrated and outdated.

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Whether or not you choose to believe that upper class Americans are to blame for the rule, we know that it developed during a time in history when a woman wearing anything other than a skirt that hung below her knees was considered outrageous and offensive to most people. While women wearing pants or shorts wasn’t unheard of, it certainly wasn’t commonplace. We are talking about a point in time when women weren’t expected to do anything more than birth and raise children and be a good wife to her husband. Not that I am trying to say that any of these three things are easy tasks, but outlooks and expectations have changed drastically.  If a woman today aspires to be something other than a wife or a mother, that is OK! Just as it is acceptable to wear a midriff-showing halter top and shorts on a 90-degree day, so is it to wear white pants after Labor Day.

And so, to my second-grade self and anyone else reading this, I say: Go ahead and wear whatever makes you feel great whenever you want to wear it (even if it happens to be white pants on the Tuesday after the first Monday in September)! 

♥