--- title: Why Can't You Wear White After Labor Day? description: Here's why Americans stopped wearing white after Labor Day canonical: https://time.com/3223070/why-its-okay-to-wear-white-after-labor-day/ author: Diane Tsai article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-29T20:11:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:55:54.420Z og:title: Why Can't You Wear White After Labor Day? og:description: Here's why Americans stopped wearing white after Labor Day og:url: https://time.com/3223070/why-its-okay-to-wear-white-after-labor-day/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt119a4a2d62c9fe6c/6986a180d0b6f21b01305e51/labor_day_white_1280.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1280 og:image:height: 720 og:image:alt: Group Of Children In Sea og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Can't You Wear White After Labor Day? twitter:description: Here's why Americans stopped wearing white after Labor Day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt119a4a2d62c9fe6c/6986a180d0b6f21b01305e51/labor_day_white_1280.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why It's O.K. to Wear White After Labor Day > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters.  by [Diane Tsai](https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/)  ## Diane Tsai Aug 29, 2014 8:11 PM UTC  Group of five young children in summer clothes paddling in the sea off the coast of America circa 1924; some ships can be seen in the far distance. Group of five young children in summer clothes paddling in the sea off the coast of America circa 1924; some ships can be seen in the far distance. The Montifraulo Collection/Getty Images  by [Diane Tsai](https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/)  ## Diane Tsai Aug 29, 2014 8:11 PM UTC Tradition holds that this is the time of year when wearing white becomes a _major_ fashion faux pas. But it turns out that the history of the “no white after Labor Day” rule isn’t so black and white. In the video above, TIME’s Archives Editor Lily Rothman explains why Americans stopped wearing white after Labor Day (and also why you should feel free to rock your white jeans well after summer is over). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3223070/why-its-okay-to-wear-white-after-labor-day/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3223070/why-its-okay-to-wear-white-after-labor-day/"},"headline":"Why It's O.K. to Wear White After Labor Day","datePublished":"2014-08-29T20:11:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:54.420Z","description":"The dated custom of avoiding it in September is no longer in fashion","url":"https://time.com/3223070/why-its-okay-to-wear-white-after-labor-day/","keywords":["Living","fashion","Labor Day","Vogue","Culture","Clothes","Etiquette","white"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt119a4a2d62c9fe6c/6986a180d0b6f21b01305e51/labor_day_white_1280.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Diane Tsai","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt119a4a2d62c9fe6c/6986a180d0b6f21b01305e51/labor_day_white_1280.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Group Of Children In Sea","caption":"Group Of Children In Sea","creditText":"The Montifraulo Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3223070/why-its-okay-to-wear-white-after-labor-day/","name":"Why It's O.K. to Wear White After Labor Day"}}]}] ```