Why Shouldn’t You Wear White After Labor Day? [PHOTO GALLERY]
Kids (and adults) are not supposed to wear white after Labor Day, it's a fashion rule as old as time. I personally NEVER wear white, especially since I always inevitably spill things on it and leave stains that I can never seem to get rid of: spaghetti sauce, paw prints, lipstick, foundation makeup, red wine and even blood (don't ask)! I have always heard this fashion rule since I was a kid. "No, Reesha, you are not supposed to wear white after Labor Day." But why not? I always asked. Nobody ever really knew the answer, except for maybe Kathleen Turner in the movie Serial Mom.
Did you get to go to any summer all-white clothing parties? I went to a really fun one, last year before Covid-19 shut everything down! It was my friend Nora's annual Wine Divas Summer White Party that was held at a swanky private location. The room was filled with ladies donning their finest white summer dresses, shoes, and accessories. It was a glorious sight to behold. But it got me thinking, why can't we wear white after Labor Day?
Well, I am here to help answer my own question, albeit a decade or two later. I will be my own Fashion Fairy Godmother. Now I just have to find a time machine.
It seems that wearing white clothing was a way for the wealthy and middle class to distinguish themselves from the lower-class hard-labor workers during the olden days. While the rich ran off to their summer homes in the countryside, the working men and women had to toil it out in the city, where it rained constantly and muddy puddles were plentiful in the dirt and cobblestone streets. Naturally, they did not wear white clothes, lest they end up with pesky mud stains.
Fashion houses and designers picked up on this and capitalized on the upper-class' desire to make themselves feel better than the less fortunate, so they created beautiful summer suits and dresses in shades of white for those who could afford it. Those people would wear them during summer vacations and then stop wearing them when they returned to their city homes after Labor Day. The after-Labor Day rush signified the end of summer and the return to reality.
Fast forward to 2016, where we DGAF about fashion rules. We make our own fashion rules these days; life is our party and we can wear white if we want to!