Why can't we wear white after Labor day?

Question

Just really need to know the actual reason why. Where did it come from?

Answer 1

I believe the rule is no white shoes, not no white clothing. White shoes are summer attire, and it is tacky to wear them when summer is over.

Answer 2

White After Labor Day

Answer 3

We're not supposed to wear white after labor day but you can if you really want to! The reason why is because white is a color that's summery so I guess people think that when it's fall no more white! Not sure if you like not wearing white but I think it's pretty dumb, no offense! That's a true and honest answer write there!

Answer 4

It used to be that people went about after labor day wearing white all the time. This was an okay practice during the fall and it actually made the beautiful colors of the leaves stand out so much better. But when the snow fell, people lost each other really easily.

For instance, two people were out hunting some deer one winter before this rule was made; one had on white clothes, the other had on whatever. The decided to split up to cover more ground. Several hours later, the guy wearing multi-colored clothing was getting very tired. He'd been out all day with only some cold biscuits to eat, there was something sticking into his butt from the tree branch on which he sat, and his eyelids were getting very heavy. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. He turned and squinted, but couldn't really make it out. But it looked alive and deerish, so he shot. Jumping off the tree, he ran over to his quarry to drag it home...only to find out he'd shot his partner in the leg, not a deer.

The moral of that story, dear children, is to never shoot at something when you're tired.

But anyway, people were tired of losing each other in the winter, so they made the rule of no white after Halloween. After a while, they began to realize just how ridiculous it was to wear white in the fall because it rained a lot then and got EVERYTHING muddy. So by the end of the day, even if you had started out wearing white, you came home wearing brown - or even black, if there had been a real downpour. To save their clothes from this disastrous end, people came up with the rule not to wear white after labor day.

This was at the time when people didn't live in places like Arizona or Jamaica where the weather's hardly bad. And it was before global warming. Now there's hardly any snow and people live all over the place, so the rule isn't so applicable anymore.

The end.

Answer 5

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Technically you aren't supposed to wear white from labor day until memorial day (end of May). White is for summer. But that "rule" is a bit outdated. Winter white is so popular now (an ivory-ish white shade). It's common for people to wear white accessories year round. I wouldn't wear white linen pants in November, but you can definitely wear a white sweater.

Answer 6

you still have some uptight fashion holdouts who believe a woman should never wear white in a month with an "r' in it. This is largely due to the climate in the northern hemisphere. When women were required to wear long skirts, it wasn't very practical, or comely if the bottoms of the skirts were noticeably soiled by the streets. Hence, no white during months that may have a lot of precipitation. I think Erica Kane and folk like her are the only ones who give a fig anymore. Jackie Kennedy loved to wear white all year, just called it winter white.

Answer 7

What is acceptable to wear and at what times of the year have no set standards. They are simply social constructions that certain social, economic or geographic groups have decided upon. I think perhaps that the rule about white after Labor day comes from the East Coast upper middle, high class type of society. I would say that following the rule only matters if you are spending time with the people that care about that particular social construction.

Answer 8

this is what found on this topic: :o)

As with many customs and etiquette dictums, it's difficult to pin down the reason behind the prohibition against white after Labor Day. We searched on variations of "wear white after Labor Day" and sifted through the Etiquette and Fashion categories in the Yahoo! Directory. We managed to turn up a bit of information on the fashion dictate.
Originally, the rule was more along the lines of "Only wear white shoes between Memorial Day and Labor Day." Furthermore, it mainly applied to white pumps or dress shoes. White tennis shoes and off-white boots seem exempt, as are any shoes worn by a winter bride. "Winter white" clothing (e.g., cream-colored wool) is acceptable between Labor Day and Memorial Day too.

The only logical reasoning we could find cited temperature. Image consultant Nancy Penn suggests that because white reflects light and heat, wearing white would make you cooler in winter, and thus should be avoided. But others suggest the rule stems from a class issue. Acting Director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology Valerie Steele notes that in the late 19th century and the 1950s, more people were entering the middle classes. These nouveau-riche folks were often unaware of the standards of high society, so they were given specific codified rules to follow in order to fit in.

Several sites quoted a charming refrain about G.R.I.T.S. -- girls raised in the South. This bit of folklore states, "Southern girls know bad manners when they see them," and a clear sign of bad manners is wearing white shoes before Easter or after Labor Day. Because fashions in the American South can be a little more formal than elsewhere, perhaps the no-white-shoes rule came from south of the Mason-Dixon Line? Even Star Jones (an otherwise fashion-forward Southern lady) admits that white shoes "are for Easter Sunday and not the dead of winter."

We can only surmise that the point of this rule is to ensure that people only wear summer fashions during the actual summer months. The opposite probably applies as well, but people generally don't need to be reminded to avoid wearing a goose-down parka in 100-degree weather. If you live in a locale with summer temperatures year-round, we can't see the harm in wearing white shoes or a head-to-toe white outfit in October. And we promise not to tell Miss Manners.

Answer 9

The only logical reasoning we could find cited temperature. Image consultant Nancy Penn suggests that because white reflects light and heat, wearing white would make you cooler in winter, and thus should be avoided. But others suggest the rule stems from a class issue. Acting Director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology Valerie Steele notes that in the late 19th century and the 1950s, more people were entering the middle classes. These nouveau-riche folks were often unaware of the standards of high society, so they were given specific codified rules to follow in order to fit in.

Several sites quoted a charming refrain about G.R.I.T.S. -- girls raised in the South. This bit of folklore states, "Southern girls know bad manners when they see them," and a clear sign of bad manners is wearing white shoes before Easter or after Labor Day. Because fashions in the American South can be a little more formal than elsewhere, perhaps the no-white-shoes rule came from south of the Mason-Dixon Line? Even Star Jones (an otherwise fashion-forward Southern lady) admits that white shoes "are for Easter Sunday and not the dead of winter."

We can only surmise that the point of this rule is to ensure that people only wear summer fashions during the actual summer months. The opposite probably applies as well, but people generally don't need to be reminded to avoid wearing a goose-down parka in 100-degree weather. If you live in a locale with summer temperatures year-round, we can't see the harm in wearing white shoes or a head-to-toe white outfit in October. And we promise not to tell Miss Manners.



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Answer 10

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RE:
Why can't we wear white after Labor day?
Just really need to know the actual reason why. Where did it come from?

Answer 11

Originally, the rule was more along the lines of "Only wear white shoes between Memorial Day and Labor Day." Furthermore, it mainly applied to white pumps or dress shoes. White tennis shoes and off-white boots seem exempt, as are any shoes worn by a winter bride. "Winter white" clothing (e.g., cream-colored wool) is acceptable between Labor Day and Memorial Day too.

The only logical reasoning could find cited temperature. Image consultant Nancy Penn suggests that because white reflects light and heat, wearing white would make you cooler in winter, and thus should be avoided. But others suggest the rule stems from a class issue. Acting Director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology Valerie Steele notes that in the late 19th century and the 1950s, more people were entering the middle classes. These nouveau-riche folks were often unaware of the standards of high society, so they were given specific codified rules to follow in order to fit in.