White After Labor Day

Did you mother ever tell you that you shouldn't wear white after Labor Day? Mine did. I think she was talking about white shoes though since I don't ever remember any of us girls having anything white other than white blouses. Oh wait, I remember having a beautiful white pleated skirt back in the 60s. Oh my gosh, that skirt! A white pleated skirt was really the rage that summer and I wanted one so I saved my money. I felt like a million dollars in that skirt and I wore it with a pink blouse. I was beautiful! I earned a dollar an hour hoeing peanuts for my parents in the summer as all of us kids did. I would save my money for clothes to take to Falls Creek, the church summer camp that was always the highlight of the summer. I have to confess that I mainly wanted to go because there were boys! tons of boys! boys! I was such a shy teenager so my only hope was that there would be an equally shy boy there that would take an interest in me. I was sure that white skirt and the little velvet bow in my hair (that was another fad that year) was going to knock some boy off his feet.

Okay, back on subject. It is nearly Labor Day and time to put away the white clothes. In the last few years, I have bought almost nothing but white clothes, from linen to denim. I love it. I love the casualness of white and my tops are limited only to my imagination. Any color in the rainbow can go with white.

I used to worry that I would get white clothes dirty easier, but over the years I freed myself from that stress! And do you know what I have found? I don't get my white clothes any dirtier than any other color. I have a washer and dryer, and I am able bodied to run a load anytime I want.

Now the dilemma. Do I break all the rules of society and wear white after Labor Day? Let's see. If the weathermen are correct, then we will have many, many more hot days, possibly over 100 degrees. I don't think this 100 degree weather is going to suddenly drop from 100 to 75 the week after Labor Day, do you? I am retired so I don't go to an office where someone might cringe and run to their pod mate to point out my white pants, whispering about my lack of class and that I probably didn't know any better. Do you think that any of the unknown men I see at Lowe's are going to jab the guy with the sack of concrete over his shoulder to point out my faux pas? I might point out that Lowe's is the most exciting place I go.

There was a time in the not too distant past, like last year, when I put away everything in my closet that I would have worn in the summer the day after Labor Day or even a couple weeks prior to Labor Day. Up went the shorts, up went the white pants, up went the short sleeve tops, up went the sandals. Out came the suede shoes, out came the closed toed shoes, out came the boots, out came the black and brown pants, out came the sweaters, out came the long sleeve blouses.............

.............Hold on folks, I think I may be getting ready to buck the system. Yes.......maybe. Maybe I will relax and wear what I once thought was taboo. A new departure for me, but it is freeing to not feel the constraints of the fashion police. I feel a lot better. Sometimes I think I need someone to talk to.