--- 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why It's O.K. to Wear White After Labor Day  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"}}]}] ```