You are still wearing White, yes?

It’s after Labor Day…and I do hope you haven’t put away your whites. I know my southern bell friend, Kathy P has just gasped. But yes, you can wear white after Labor Day! You can wear if before Labor Day, as well, btw.

But first, let’s see where this rule came from…compliments from our friends at the daily holiday blog (www.dailyholidayblog.com).

Originally, it seemed to start in the late 1800′s when the snobby upper crust needed another way to set themselves apart from the normal hardworking lower and middle classes. The women who were currently the popular crowd made up a bunch of fashion rules that anyone who was anyone needed to follow.

A silly rule for the Upper Crust

Not wearing white outside the summer months was another one of these silly rules. White was for weddings and resort wear, not dinner parties in the fall. Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, those in the fashion industries eventually adopted it as the natural endpoint for summer fashion.

By the 1950′s, women’s magazines pushed this rule to the extreme to not only the snobby upper crust, but the average American housewife. It wasn’t long before it became the accepted rule and whether or not you knew where the rule came from, it was the new fashion “law”!

Breaking Away from the Crowd

Of course there are some that buck the system. Most famously was Coco Chanel who insisted on wearing white year round! Coco Chanel was a French fashion designer and founder of the Chanel brand. She is credited with liberating women from the corset and popularizing sporty chic clothing after World War I. And she particularly disliked this no white after Labor Day “rule”.

Here are some of my favorite looks for breaking that old rule!

Song of the Day…from Steph, who just gave me an Awesome playlist, called, “Finger snapping tunes”…and finger snap you shall. And yes, Steph is one of my besties…and yes, I do have several, make that many. I am lucky. <3 <3 <3

So pardon me for asking, pardon me for thinking
Pardon me for asking, pardon me for thinking

All of Me, by Tanlines