# When Did American men Stop Wearing White Suits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465 "2010-01-18T21:01:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/1 "2010-01-18T21:01:36Z")
I was looking at some family photos of my grandfathe, and he wore white suits from May to labor Day. Why did this custom cease? I think white suits look nead-with a panama hat! ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/2 "2010-01-18T21:03:36Z")
Because shorts are more comfortable. Not as elegant, perhaps, but when it’s 100 degrees outside, which is going to win, shorts and a T, or a natty seersucker? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/3 "2010-01-18T21:10:16Z")
Tom Wolfe still wears 'em. But aside from the comfort issue – even if you have to wear a suit during summer, for whatever reason, you’re generally not going to wear a white one – hellish to keep clean. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/4 "2010-01-18T21:10:18Z")
[A few still do](http://eng10181.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/wolfe.jpg). But primarily, white suits were made of either cotton or linen, and worn in the American South when the weather was hot. Cotton and linen are hell to keep clean and pressed, and air conditioning and the development of polyester-wool blends reduced the need for “tropical weight” suits. The traditional white suit started to disappear as early as the 1950s and was pretty much dead by the end of the '60s. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/5 "2010-01-18T21:20:45Z")
Still see a few seersucker suits in these parts in the summer. I have one myself. It is nice and cool in the summer heat, when compared to wool. Of course, most seersucker suits are not strictly white. [Blue and white](http://www.citizenarcane.com/files/2005/May/11/seersucker_jacket.jpg) or [beige and white](http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/MLA12380337.jpg) are most common. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/6 "2010-01-18T21:22:25Z")
The nice men that slide my dinner through the slot in my door invariably wear white suits. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/7 "2010-01-18T21:23:26Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > When Did Americn men Stop Wearing White Suits? After labor day of course!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/8 "2010-01-18T21:33:46Z")
Better example of [tan seersucker](http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/MLA11286114.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/9 "2010-01-18T21:42:32Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > The nice men that slide my dinner through the slot in my door invariably wear white suits. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![davey77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@davey77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davey77)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/10 "2010-01-18T22:45:05Z")
When did Steve Martin take off his white suit for good? He has to be its most famous proponent. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/11 "2010-01-18T23:18:34Z")
Tom Wolfe stopped wearing them for a while in the 80s, claiming that John Travolta and Steve Martin ruined it for him. I’ve got a white herringbone blazer I wear a lot during the appropriate months, usually with khakis. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/12 "2010-01-18T23:22:51Z")
> [@davey77](#): > > When did Steve Martin take off his white suit for good? He has to be its most famous proponent. I suspect he retired it shortly after [this photo](http://freakshowbusiness.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/annie-leibovitz-steve-martin.jpg?w=473&h=504) was taken… ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/13 "2010-01-18T23:34:49Z")
The leisure suit fad of the 70s brought back white shoes for men but that did not last long. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/14 "2010-01-18T23:41:13Z")
Miami Vice? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/15 "2010-01-18T23:48:32Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > After labor day of course!😃 [Don’t you know you’re not supposed to wear white after labor day?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkuwvG1ndbU) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/16 "2010-01-19T00:48:15Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > When Did American Men Stop Wearing White Suits? After enough of them spilled red wine in their laps. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/17 "2010-01-19T00:49:28Z")
White suits crashed in popularity after it was realized that [the social costs were too great](http://filmjournal.net/clydefro/2006/09/20/the-man-in-the-white-suit/). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/18 "2010-01-19T01:01:00Z")
I still see people in white suits here occasionally, but we are in the tropics and it’s generally for semi-formal events. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/19 "2010-01-19T01:04:23Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > [A few still do](http://eng10181.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/wolfe.jpg). > > But primarily, white suits were made of either cotton or linen, and worn in the American South when the weather was hot. Cotton and linen are hell to keep clean and pressed, and air conditioning and the development of polyester-wool blends reduced the need for “tropical weight” suits. The traditional white suit started to disappear as early as the 1950s and was pretty much dead by the end of the '60s. They were occasionally seen in the Midwest before WW2 - it gets hot there, too - but there was no tradition as in the South. They did not reappear after the war. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465/20 "2010-01-19T01:17:47Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > The leisure suit fad of the 70s brought back white shoes for men but that did not last long. You mean [bucks](http://www.zappos.com/n/multi_view.cgi?product_id=7238847&color_id=14&view=multi&ref=multi-pic)? Esquire and GQ tout those a lot in summer months. I have a pair that I love, but can’t wear in muddy Seattle very often. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-american-men-stop-wearing-white-suits/525465.md?page=2)