Fashion: Labor Day & Wearing White

We Are Our Own 1%

As Labor Day passes, a lot of things change in fashion.  Colors, patterns, and the type of material we’ll be wearing for the next few months will be changing, significantly in some areas.  Colors always change in the season, patterns by fashion trends and materials by what is available, comfortable, or best for the weather. One things that doesn’t change is the interesting rule of no white after Labor Day.  Most people don’t know understand where it came from, what’s included or why we observe it.  so let’s explore this for a bit.

The color white is associated with summer.  In the southern and Midwestern states, white is widely worn because it repels heat the best, especially in those hot and humid areas where you sweat while taking a shower.  If you also look in regions such as Africa or Asia, white is a common color, along with silk or linen fabrics to help repel heat.  

How it became more of a mainstream fashion statement came from the GRITS.  Now I know you might be hungry right now or wonder, why do grits have to do with this?  Well the GRITS I’m referring to are a specific type of person.  GRITS (Girls Raised In The South), also known more modernly as Southern Bells, learned this rule as part of being a lady.  Looking further back, as far as the early 19th century, its origins are directly related to class.  Those of “old money” understood that you don’t wear white after Labor day to signify that summer is over, such as Memorial Day is summer’s start.  Those of “new money” often didn’t know this rule, among others so they can see the distinction between the two.  It was an major class distinction, and important to the 1%, so much so, that it was part of “class education” for those new to being wealthy or those who wanted to appear as if they were.  Even the 1% have ways of telling each other apart.  

Today, this rule applies mostly in southern and Midwestern states along with wearing a light colored suit only between those times of the year.  Some parts of the east coast still honor this fashion rule, yet the majority of the east coast, and a majority of the west coast don’t.  This “no white” rule generally applies to shoes, and suits.  Wearing white shirts, sweaters, and jackets are okay and are quite fashionable in the winter time.