Origins of the rule: No white after Labor Day

Don’t wear white after Labor Day? Famed fashionista Coco Chanel never bought that rule. She wore white year round.

But many have long accepted that caution as fashion law.

Among upper classes in the late 1800s, white was reserved mainly for resort, sport and summer wear. When Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, the fashion powers-that-be accepted the day as the end of summer and, thus, the end of white clothing. Those rules eventually filtered down from the swells to everyone else and by the 1950s women’s magazines were repeating the rule.

There might have been a practical reason for the code, according to wisegeek.com. White clothing, especially shoes, were easily soiled in slushy winter and rainy weather, especially on streets that were filled with horses.

Even though the dress rules have loosened significantly since the 1970s, white wear still suggests a feel of vacation or non-working time, especially for men.