29 Runway-Approved Ways to Wear White for Fall (2024)

There are few greater sartorial power moves than wearing white after Labor Day. Doing so not only bucks the age-old diktat that warns against all shades of ivory after the start of September, but it also establishes the wearer as someone impervious to the grime of daily life. A person in all white is a person unworried about coffee stains or dirty subways.

Unsurprisingly, the all-white outfit has become a celebrity staple. Angelina Jolie swears by it, as does Hailey Baldwin, though they have very different takes on wearing white after Labor Day. To find your own, look to the runways of the past several seasons, where designers have been positing a vast range of winter white looks.

Thinking Small
Just because the calendar says September doesn’t mean the temperatures are dropping. When the weather turns cold, trade your ankle boots for knee- or thigh-highs à la Miu Miu Pre-Fall 2010 or Prada Fall 2011.

Give It the Boot
A white midi or maxi dress can have seasonal appeal with the right black accessories. Take a page from Dior’s Fall 2017 show, where Maria Grazia Chiuri accented a monastic number with pointed-toe ankle boots, or Simone Rocha’s collection from the same season that took lace into fall with a black leather harness and fluffy boots.

Pants Party
To be fair, all-white everything can get a touch boring. Take a tip from Calvin Klein and Haider Ackermann, who know the power of a statement top, or you can look back to Nicolas Ghesquière’s still-coveted blazers from his Balenciaga days.

The Statement Coat
When in doubt, reach for a white statement coat. Sacai’s giant puffer or Stella McCartney’s faux-fur number from 2015 will turn heads on the sidewalk, for sure.

High Slits and Higher Shoes
For the secret to wearing all-white after dark, look no further than Altuzarra, who has made a career of pairing sexy lace dresses with thigh-high boots.

Sweater Dressing
When the polar vortex hits, there’s no better weapon than a thick ivory sweater. In 1997, Martin Margiela advocated for a fisherman knit with layered white separates. Fast-forward 20 years, and the knits at Céline and Marc Jacobs are looking pretty good, too.

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