Can You Wear White After Labor Day? We've Got the Answer Ahead of The Holiday! (2024)

FAQs

Can You Wear White After Labor Day? We've Got the Answer Ahead of The Holiday!? ›

Labor Day marked the unofficial end of summer, but upper-class families often took vacations after Labor Day to extend the season. Those who stayed in the city to work would transition to darker colors. In other words, wearing white after Labor Day was a sign that you could afford to do so.

Do you still have to follow the no white after Labor Day rule? The answer is NO. For most, the rule no longer applies, so you can style white in your outfits into fall and winter and then back into the spring. And the lack of rule applies everywhere, even the South.

In the early 1900s, those who were well-to-do often favored lightweight, bright clothing—white linen suits and breezy dresses. Wearing white after Labor Day meant you were someone who had the means to have end-of-summer vacations. Wearing your whites beyond Labor Day was just, well… showing off.

The rule to stop wearing white clothing after Labor Day has persisted through generations of tradition, but even so, there are plenty of people who have reinterpreted this old-fashioned standard to wear white all year long.

By the 1950s, women's magazines started making this “no white after Labor Day” rule more public. Wearing white only between Memorial Day and Labor Day now signified that a lady was part of the in-the-know fashion club.

When Can You Start Wearing White In The Spring? While there are many who still choose to live by the tradition-based guideline that you must wait until Memorial Day to wear white, there are others who favor a different date: Easter.

Of course you can wear white after Labor Day, and it makes perfect sense to do so in climates where September's temperatures are hardly fall-like. It's more about fabric choice today than color.

You can absolutely wear white after Labor Day. However, there are some ways to wear white that help it transition to fall more easily.

For many years, fashion experts insisted that white shoes should only be worn before Labor Day. The reasoning was that white was a summer color, and wearing white shoes after the end of summer would be considered gauche. However, times have changed, and white shoes are now considered acceptable for year-round wear.

White represents purity or innocence. While a bride wearing white was often thought to convey the bride's virginity, blue was once a traditional color worn by brides to symbolize purity. White is bright and can create a sense of space or add highlights.

When can you no longer wear white? ›

It is a truth universally acknowledged that you can't wear white after Labor Day. But why? It's a fashion rule that has been parroted by grandmothers, general interest magazines, and teenage mean girls for generations, as if it's a statute that society has always abided by.

"Tradition dictates guests avoid wearing red out of fear that it could take attention away from the happy couple,” explains Hurwitz. “Visually, it's quite bold. In a photo, your eye is immediately drawn to the color, especially if it's next to neutrals like white, black, gray, or beige.”

If you could wear white, it often was an indication that you had means and that you didn't do manual labor and you could afford a vacation.” But who exactly started this rule and established it? Sinclair said it was the wealthy women who came from old money who wanted to separate themselves from society.

Contrary to the old-fashioned “rule,” we're here to tell you that white pants can absolutely be rocked during the colder months. So, let's dive into some winter outfit ideas and get inspired to elevate our white pant fashion game!

Not serious at all. Fashion is a form of self-expression and, as such, many rules are arbitrary. You can certainly don a white 'fit' after Labor Day if it strikes your fancy. It is not a sign of disrespect, as people sometimes fear.

Once confined to the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, white jeans—along with their bone, ecru, and ivory cousins—have become year-round staples. We're expecting to see more of them than ever in 2024, considering how much they're popping up in street style.

The old rules about wearing white only between Easter or Memorial Day (depending on your tradition) and Labor Day are out the window. Really. You absolutely can wear white jeans and pants anytime you want and look very in the know.

One of the easiest ways to wear white jeans for fall and winter has to do with the colors you choose to pair with them. Wearing your white jeans with traditional fall colors, like this Saffron colored long sweater, keeps your outfit looking seasonal. Neutral colors look fabulous when paired with white.