Is it okay to wear white After Labor Day?

It's that time of year when folks wear their white  clothing one last time before the arrival of Labor Day for they dare not wear them afterwards!  The question arises as to whether it is now acceptable to wear white after the holiday.  I say it's absolutely, positively acceptable!  Now, there was a time when I would have agreed to the unwritten rule of not wearing white after Labor Day but that day has come and gone.  As they say, "rules are made to be broken" and this is definitely one that needs to be laid to rest.

You may ponder why there was a rule to begin so we'll explore that but first my inspiration for this posting:

 

 

Young Roger Prather Sr.

 

 

Elder Roger Prather Sr.

 

My deceased father was my first role model in terms of style, grace and class.  As you can see above as a 25 year old young man dressed in white hat and suit and as an 80 year old man he always looked exceptional in white with his big handsome smile, with pearly white teeth, and his coordinated dapper attire.  My father was a hardworking blue collar Christian man.  Now you may wonder what that has to do with wearing white.  Well, typically in years gone by the majority of men that wore white were the wealthy as that was considered to be somewhat of a status symbol.  Since it was primarily the preceding that wore white they also created the unwritten rule of when it was appropriate to wear white.  Obviously, that has changed as folks from all economic levels wear white.    Let's take a look at some others that look good in white.

D-Wade

 

Idris Elba

 

 

Alfred Edmondson Jr.*

 

 Sean Combs

 

The Notorious B.I.G. 

 

Sports celebrities, entertainers, and even editors of magazines and the like know they look good in white as this light neutral color blends well with the skin tone of Men of Color.  The color white reflects light as opposed to darker colors which absorb light.  That's one of the reasons it's more comfortable in the summer.  The materials, which consists of cotton, linen and wool are also more light weight.   The preceding is another reason why folks wear white primarily during the summer time.  However, in that the temperature in September is typically very warm I think it would be more acceptable now to wear white after Labor Day. 

*Alfred Edmondson Jr. is the Senior Vice President editor-at-large of Black Enterprise magazine.

 

 

Wynton Marsalis

 

Brother sporting an Eastern look 

 



 

Young Lawrence Fishburne

 



 Ron O'Neal as SuperFly
 

 

 

 Billy Dee Williams
 

 

 

 

The last reason that folks wear white in warmer weather is because as fall approaches towards winter, the streets become soiled due to the changes in the climate with rain and muddy conditions.  Therefore the clothing becomes more difficult to keep clean.  Who wants to go to the office and a white suit that got soiled on the way to work?  Even before I conducted the research I had my own personal rule to wear darker clothing if I learned rain was impending for this very reason. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Young Michael Jackson

 

 

 

Ray Charles

 

 

 

 Cab Calloway

 

 

 

 

Hopefully, you'll feel confident if you choose to wear white after the Labor Day Holiday.  If you choose not to then that's okay to as it's a matter of personal preference.