# White After Labor Day -- wth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 12, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933 "2014-04-12T12:53:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/41 "2014-04-13T19:53:59Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I agree with Lagerfeld and Seinfeld. If you wear sweats anywhere other than home or the gym, it’s a sign of defeat. You’ve decided you can’t look good, so you might as well be comfortable. lol. I beg to differ. For me, it’s a sign that I don’t give a flying fuck what other people think look good. I’m being COMFORTABLE, which, outside of formal occasions and work, is the paramount consideration for me. If my sloppy clothing makes you feel uncomfortable, that’s a problem for YOU, and absolutely no skin off my nose whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/42 "2014-04-13T20:20:05Z")
I’ve never, ever, ever worn white pants since I was about 14, accidentally stepped on big slug, and the black guts went shooting all over them. Makes me queasy just thinking about them. No white pants for me. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/43 "2014-04-13T23:01:00Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Basing seasonal fashions today on what the seasons were in England before air conditioning is a sign of insanity that didn’t exist even in the heyday of Newport, Hyannis, and Kennebunkport. The Americans who imported the English upper-class attitudes didn’t live in the South. I don’t think most Southerners made a fetish about limiting whites and summer flannels . I’ve heard that proper/fussy Southerners did indeed have their own earlier start date, like Easter or spring. I never heard of a calendar adjusted end date but it isn’t something I care a lot about either. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/44 "2014-04-15T04:33:37Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > And you’ll look like you’ve given up. > > But this is the SDMB, where dressing like a slob is held in high regard. lol. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/45 "2014-04-15T05:07:49Z")
There’s some confusion here between having an opinion about how something looks looks and caring that it looks that way. Walk up to me in a grocery store and ask “do you care that I’m wearing sweatpants” and I’ll honestly say “no.” Walk up to me in a grocery store and ask “do you have an opinion on how I look in these sweatpants” and I’ll honestly say “yes, you look silly, but no sillier than the woman over there wearing cut off shorts with the packets hanging below, uggs, and tank top and a scarf.” But just because I have personal aesthetic preferences doesn’t mean I expect society to conform to them. White clothes after labor day doesn’t trip over any of my personal preferences beyond that at any time of year I don’t visually care for predominantly white outfits. And almost never white pants since I just prefer pants be darker than the top half. But again, just personal peccadillo. Making rules about arbitrary aesthetics and expecting everybody in society to conform to them just seems way more exhausting than I want life to be. Far easier to learn to live with the mild disappointment of people making decisions I mildly disagree with. ---
**Author:** ![Charley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Charley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charley)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/46 "2014-04-15T05:42:04Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Basing seasonal fashions today on what the seasons were in England before air conditioning is a sign of insanity that didn’t exist even in the heyday of Newport, Hyannis, and Kennebunkport. The Americans who imported the English upper-class attitudes didn’t live in the South. I don’t think most Southerners made a fetish about limiting whites and summer flannels to three months. Generic you may have inherited the general attitudes from us, but you can’t blame the rigidity of seasonal dressing specifically on us. We don’t even have Labor Day (or even Labour Day) - we do have a bank holiday at the beginning of May, but there is no real tradition of this being anything to do with The Workers, it’s more about morris dancers and flowers. We do have a million different subtle indicators we can use to judge one another’s class, but referencing the date to one’s wardrobe isn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/47 "2014-04-15T16:30:30Z")
Chicago seems to have stuck to Labor Day as the end of straw-hat season. Straw hats were cheap and disposable, so unless you were really poor you would discard them at the end of the season and get a new one next year. This led to the custom of chucking your hats onto the baseball field on Labor Day, either at the end of the game or in celebration of rallies _during_ the game. [Here is a great picture](http://books.google.com/books?id=-6seAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT135&lpg=PT135&dq=%22straw+hats%22+%22Labor+Day%22+%22Wrigley+Field%22&source=bl&ots=nz-WcFwECt&sig=LId5BCjhNLlxH-z77WP0fA0VyzI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bVxNU-ORE-rK8gGMpoGAAw&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22straw%20hats%22%20%22Labor%20Day%22%20%22Wrigley%20Field%22&f=false) of Wrigley Field on Labor Day 1929. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/48 "2014-04-15T17:14:23Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > There’s some confusion here between having an opinion about how something looks looks and caring that it looks that way. > > Walk up to me in a grocery store and ask “do you care that I’m wearing sweatpants” and I’ll honestly say “no.” > > Walk up to me in a grocery store and ask “do you have an opinion on how I look in these sweatpants” and I’ll honestly say “yes, you look silly, but no sillier than the woman over there wearing cut off shorts with the packets hanging below, uggs, and tank top and a scarf.” > > But just because I have personal aesthetic preferences doesn’t mean I expect society to conform to them. White clothes after labor day doesn’t trip over any of my personal preferences beyond that at any time of year I don’t visually care for predominantly white outfits. And almost never white pants since I just prefer pants be darker than the top half. But again, just personal peccadillo. > > Making rules about arbitrary aesthetics and expecting everybody in society to conform to them just seems way more exhausting than I want life to be. Far easier to learn to live with the mild disappointment of people making decisions I mildly disagree with. You are much mellower than Opus: [http://www.thecomicstrips.com/store/add.php?iid=85701](http://www.thecomicstrips.com/store/add.php?iid=85701) ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/49 "2014-04-15T17:26:18Z")
The white wearing season in the Southern US starts at Easter. I don’t consiously think about this but if I see someone wearing white dress shoes before Easter or after labor day it looks funny to me. I think it haas something to do with getting new clothes for Easter that are usually lighter color and weight. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/50 "2014-04-15T17:40:31Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Having never seen a single episode of Seinfeld, I’m not sure why I should care about what a fictional television character says to another fictional television character or anyone silly enough to quote a fictional television character. At least Lagerfeld has a reason: he wants people to buy his clothes. Since there’s no chance of him ever seeing me in my sweatpants, or me ever buying his clothes, I think I’ll be alright. I’ll still be warm and comfortable. One of the more interesting bits of fashion advice I’ve ever heard was “Don’t wear what designers design. Wear what designers _wear_.” And if you watch a fashion show and wait till the end and see what the designer is wearing as they come out at the very end, it’s always more appealing to me than the pageant that just happened. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/51 "2014-04-15T22:17:46Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Exackle! Miss Manners, Judith Martin, reminds us that all etiquette is based on courtesy and common sense. If it’s warm and sunny in March or mid September, put on your white pants and straw hat, and _strut your stuff_ ! I was brought up believing that if a man wears a boater other than between Memorial Day and Labor Day, young boys are allowed to grab it off his head and kick the top out of it. This was from my father, whose own father would charge him a nickel if he was caught not carrying a handkerchief. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/52 "2014-04-15T22:40:04Z")
I thought we weren’t supposed to wear white after 1983 (okay, who gets the reference?) Our local “crazy lady” passed away a few years ago, but I remember that she always dressed in white during the warm months and in black during the cold months. I also currently work with a young lady who is 22 years my junior; she’s a natural blonde, but she dyes her hair black in the Fall and keeps it black through Winter, then lets the blonde grow back out for Spring and Summer. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants.” > ― Karl Lagerfeld > > 😃 > [@CarnalK](#): > > If by “sign” you mean it’s something that gives a signal to other people, then no it’s not remotely a sign of that. > > I agree with Lagerfeld and Seinfeld. If you wear sweats anywhere other than home or the gym, it’s a sign of defeat. You’ve decided you can’t look good, so you might as well be comfortable. lol. Way back in the days of chat rooms, when I was trying to get sexy with someone, if I asked “So … what are you wearing?” and she answered, “sweats”, my immediate thought was, “oh, a fat chick”. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/53 "2014-04-15T22:57:13Z")
Agreed, sweats are for boxers trying to work up a good sweat, and lazy, and most likely, fat people. But honestly I couldn’t care less if you want to wear them. It does absolutely look like you’ve given up on life. But more power to you. If it were socially acceptable, I’d cover myself in velvet. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933/54 "2014-04-16T03:23:05Z")
It is kind of amusing for some who don’t care about fashion to wander into a thread about fashion. You can wear whatever you want, but people can think whatever they want about what you are wearing as well - heck, that’s the whole point of fashion to begin with ;). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-after-labor-day-wth/685933.md?page=2)