Navigating Faux Pas
Elise Sanchez, fashion blogger and social media influencer, always knew when it was time to put away her white shorts growing up in Austin, Texas. “I remember getting stopped at the door, for wearing white pants. [My mom] was like ‘it’s after labor day, you can’t wear these.’”
‘Don’t Wear White After Labor Day’ is one of the most frequently mentioned fashion rules, especially when it comes to rules to break. It is only one example of the fashion rules that have dictated the do’s and don’ts of fashion fanatics. Fashion society treats these rules as law but as times change, so do the rules. Navigating these rules is a time-honored feat that some swear by and others write off.
Cultivating a Rule
Rule creation is all about status, and for so long status has become synonymous with wealth. Shafaq Patel, 20, saw the correlations of class and fashion growing up in Houston, Texas. “I think upper-class people have gone into this trend of looking more hipster-esque, and have started to dress more ‘cool’ but the stuff that they wear is still very expensive and they dress like they are from the lower class,” Patel notes. “[While], people in the lower-class still really really care about brands and they still want to look like they are in a higher class,” often opting for a more expensive brand buy over an affordable option.
According to fashion historian and former professor Mary Harkins, wearing white after labor day became oh so gauche during the turn of the 20th century, when social hierarchy was at an all-time high. Stating that the rule was peculiarly American not only because Labor Day is specific to the US but because of its class-conscious nature. Harkins says, “in America (unlike Europe) class membership was very fluid, it was determined by money, not birth. So, [in order to differentiate social heirarchy] there were a lot of rigid indications of class membership.” Wearing white after Labor Day became one of these rigid indications. Finding its beginnings with the elite, the custom is originally attributed to the wealthy’s decades old practice of traipsing off to the country in the summer, a place where the elite wore white. Upon their return to the city in the fall, they packed their white clothes away and swapped out for darker winter clothes. By the early 20th century the rule was adopted by the masses and was cemented as a status signaling rule.
Fashionistas Who Broke the Rules
Navigating all the aspects of fashion rules may appear tricky, but there have been style trailblazers who have seemingly effortlessly traversed the same path.
Known for her elegance, unlikely rulebreaker Nancy Reagan painted the town red, literally. According to Harkins, before Reagan, red was taboo. “Nancy Reagan introduced red as a sophisticated color,” explains Harkins, “till then it was considered risqué and daring, and a ‘lady’ would never be seen in it… you could do a very very dark burgundy… [but red was] considered pushing the envelope in terms of messages that you send.”
Nancy isn’t the only one to change up color rules in fashion. Famously, Coco Chanel deemed black a wardrobe staple. Harkins says that before the 1920s black was strictly a color of mourning, but Coco made it a fashion must have with the introduction of the Little Black Dress [LBD]. Smithsonian.com says that the garment not only made a bold statement because it was black but also because it was plain. In a society where embellishment was king, Coco came in and revolutionized fashion. “She was quite the maverick.” Harkins says, “she liked thumbing her nose at a lot of different social conventions.”
In classic Coco style, tackling one rule was just not enough, she also made a point to wear white after Labor Day. According to TIME.com, Chanel was sporting white year-round as early as the 1920’s, the magazine says that “fashion rules are meant to be broken by those who can pull it off.”
Colors and Textures and Prints, Oh My!
These style icons may have messed with color and made it look easy, but experimenting with textiles in real life can prove itself arduous.
Social Media Influencer Sanchez is a fashion risk taker but treads with caution when mixing prints, another common no-go in fashion. She warns that there is a fine line when it comes to prints. “There's a way to do mixing prints and make it very classy, but there's also ways to just make it clashy,” she says. Aiming for the perfect complimenting prints can be a bit of a balancing act, but the guidelines for wearing white are much simpler. Sanchez advises pairing the boldness of white with something solid, “It's better to go simple in the wardrobe and shoes and then add fun accessories like add a fun handbag of some sort.” But, Sanchez says, you can overdo it with white, “White on white is a no for sure… It's very overwhelming if you wear white with a very bright color. If you wear white jeans and a bright pink top or something that's too much so stay with neutrals.”
Fashion follower Hannah Ebanks, 20, lives in neutrals although she doesn't have much white. When she does wear white, she keeps it simple. “I'll just put on some jeans, maybe a skirt, my leather jacket… I don't really wear a lot of white because I'm prone to staining it so I try to avoid that.” Ebanks, however, has firmer guidelines on other aspects of fashion, keeping it all about proportions. “When it comes to textures I try not to have too much going on. Same, kind-of, with patterns, I try to keep a solid neutral and then maybe a patterned top with a solid pant/bottom and vice versa… I try to do the same thing with tightness if that makes sense a loose flowy top with a tighter bottom and then vice versa.”
Internet Killed the Fashion Rule Book
Proper styling can feel plaugued by all of these rules, but for those who weren’t born with an eye for fashion, they are welcomed guidelines. Today, more formal sets of fashion rules are decreasing in relevancy as the internet rises and social media influencers reign.
It’s not all hierarchy and social rigidity to Ebanks, she credits the breakdown of the traditional fashion rulebook not only to the internet but also to the individual. “We’ve kind of reached a point where being true to yourself and being who you are is very popular so, I think kind of following that vein of being true to who you are and doing what you want to do and wearing what you want to wear kind of has alleviated people feeling like they need to follow those rules,” she says.
Sanchez shares a similar sentiment, but sees the breakdown more as a result of social change. “It’s all interconnected within politics and social issues, just everything that we’ve done today there has been a heavy emphasis on just being yourself and loving yourself and being true to who you are and what you believe in.”
Setting Your Own Rules
The tides of fashion move quickly and the easiest way to stay afloat is to build your own raft. Setting guidelines and rules for yourself will get you much farther than any fashion etiquette book could.
Jenna Hanson, 20, a fashion merchandising student at Iowa State University knows what looks good on her and what doesn't. “I don't think I necessarily follow the rules but I think it’s just maybe how my eyes are trained to see how fashion looks on me, how my clothes look on me… I don't really wear white in the fall or the winter because I'm very very fair skinned so it does not look good on me,” she says.
Patel, whose family immigrated to Houston from Pakistan when she was just 3 years old, puts as many colors in her wardrobe as possible. “We have a lot of colors and we have a big textile industry back in Pakistan... I have been growing up with so many different traditional outfits that are brightly colored that are all colors of the rainbow,” she says. Finding western clothes more basic because of the emphasis on neutrals, Patel pursues the more vibrant pieces. “I try to search for more brighter colors and more textures because I think it’s fun and you can play around with it more and not just play [it] safe and it makes me happy,” she says.
Searching for happiness and comfort is what fashion seems to be all about in society today. The fashion rule book changes to reflect society as time passes. Today, dress codes are falling out of style and individualism is on the rise. But as Ebanks says, “In the quest of being unique everyone kind of ends up looking the same.”
‘Don’t Wear White After Labor Day’ is one of the most frequently mentioned fashion rules, especially when it comes to rules to break. It is only one example of the fashion rules that have dictated the do’s and don’ts of fashion fanatics. Fashion society treats these rules as law but as times change, so do the rules. Navigating these rules is a time-honored feat that some swear by and others write off.
Cultivating a Rule
Rule creation is all about status, and for so long status has become synonymous with wealth. Shafaq Patel, 20, saw the correlations of class and fashion growing up in Houston, Texas. “I think upper-class people have gone into this trend of looking more hipster-esque, and have started to dress more ‘cool’ but the stuff that they wear is still very expensive and they dress like they are from the lower class,” Patel notes. “[While], people in the lower-class still really really care about brands and they still want to look like they are in a higher class,” often opting for a more expensive brand buy over an affordable option.
According to fashion historian and former professor Mary Harkins, wearing white after labor day became oh so gauche during the turn of the 20th century, when social hierarchy was at an all-time high. Stating that the rule was peculiarly American not only because Labor Day is specific to the US but because of its class-conscious nature. Harkins says, “in America (unlike Europe) class membership was very fluid, it was determined by money, not birth. So, [in order to differentiate social heirarchy] there were a lot of rigid indications of class membership.” Wearing white after Labor Day became one of these rigid indications. Finding its beginnings with the elite, the custom is originally attributed to the wealthy’s decades old practice of traipsing off to the country in the summer, a place where the elite wore white. Upon their return to the city in the fall, they packed their white clothes away and swapped out for darker winter clothes. By the early 20th century the rule was adopted by the masses and was cemented as a status signaling rule.
Fashionistas Who Broke the Rules
Navigating all the aspects of fashion rules may appear tricky, but there have been style trailblazers who have seemingly effortlessly traversed the same path.
Known for her elegance, unlikely rulebreaker Nancy Reagan painted the town red, literally. According to Harkins, before Reagan, red was taboo. “Nancy Reagan introduced red as a sophisticated color,” explains Harkins, “till then it was considered risqué and daring, and a ‘lady’ would never be seen in it… you could do a very very dark burgundy… [but red was] considered pushing the envelope in terms of messages that you send.”
Nancy isn’t the only one to change up color rules in fashion. Famously, Coco Chanel deemed black a wardrobe staple. Harkins says that before the 1920s black was strictly a color of mourning, but Coco made it a fashion must have with the introduction of the Little Black Dress [LBD]. Smithsonian.com says that the garment not only made a bold statement because it was black but also because it was plain. In a society where embellishment was king, Coco came in and revolutionized fashion. “She was quite the maverick.” Harkins says, “she liked thumbing her nose at a lot of different social conventions.”
In classic Coco style, tackling one rule was just not enough, she also made a point to wear white after Labor Day. According to TIME.com, Chanel was sporting white year-round as early as the 1920’s, the magazine says that “fashion rules are meant to be broken by those who can pull it off.”
Colors and Textures and Prints, Oh My!
These style icons may have messed with color and made it look easy, but experimenting with textiles in real life can prove itself arduous.
Social Media Influencer Sanchez is a fashion risk taker but treads with caution when mixing prints, another common no-go in fashion. She warns that there is a fine line when it comes to prints. “There's a way to do mixing prints and make it very classy, but there's also ways to just make it clashy,” she says. Aiming for the perfect complimenting prints can be a bit of a balancing act, but the guidelines for wearing white are much simpler. Sanchez advises pairing the boldness of white with something solid, “It's better to go simple in the wardrobe and shoes and then add fun accessories like add a fun handbag of some sort.” But, Sanchez says, you can overdo it with white, “White on white is a no for sure… It's very overwhelming if you wear white with a very bright color. If you wear white jeans and a bright pink top or something that's too much so stay with neutrals.”
Fashion follower Hannah Ebanks, 20, lives in neutrals although she doesn't have much white. When she does wear white, she keeps it simple. “I'll just put on some jeans, maybe a skirt, my leather jacket… I don't really wear a lot of white because I'm prone to staining it so I try to avoid that.” Ebanks, however, has firmer guidelines on other aspects of fashion, keeping it all about proportions. “When it comes to textures I try not to have too much going on. Same, kind-of, with patterns, I try to keep a solid neutral and then maybe a patterned top with a solid pant/bottom and vice versa… I try to do the same thing with tightness if that makes sense a loose flowy top with a tighter bottom and then vice versa.”
Internet Killed the Fashion Rule Book
Proper styling can feel plaugued by all of these rules, but for those who weren’t born with an eye for fashion, they are welcomed guidelines. Today, more formal sets of fashion rules are decreasing in relevancy as the internet rises and social media influencers reign.
It’s not all hierarchy and social rigidity to Ebanks, she credits the breakdown of the traditional fashion rulebook not only to the internet but also to the individual. “We’ve kind of reached a point where being true to yourself and being who you are is very popular so, I think kind of following that vein of being true to who you are and doing what you want to do and wearing what you want to wear kind of has alleviated people feeling like they need to follow those rules,” she says.
Sanchez shares a similar sentiment, but sees the breakdown more as a result of social change. “It’s all interconnected within politics and social issues, just everything that we’ve done today there has been a heavy emphasis on just being yourself and loving yourself and being true to who you are and what you believe in.”
Setting Your Own Rules
The tides of fashion move quickly and the easiest way to stay afloat is to build your own raft. Setting guidelines and rules for yourself will get you much farther than any fashion etiquette book could.
Jenna Hanson, 20, a fashion merchandising student at Iowa State University knows what looks good on her and what doesn't. “I don't think I necessarily follow the rules but I think it’s just maybe how my eyes are trained to see how fashion looks on me, how my clothes look on me… I don't really wear white in the fall or the winter because I'm very very fair skinned so it does not look good on me,” she says.
Patel, whose family immigrated to Houston from Pakistan when she was just 3 years old, puts as many colors in her wardrobe as possible. “We have a lot of colors and we have a big textile industry back in Pakistan... I have been growing up with so many different traditional outfits that are brightly colored that are all colors of the rainbow,” she says. Finding western clothes more basic because of the emphasis on neutrals, Patel pursues the more vibrant pieces. “I try to search for more brighter colors and more textures because I think it’s fun and you can play around with it more and not just play [it] safe and it makes me happy,” she says.
Searching for happiness and comfort is what fashion seems to be all about in society today. The fashion rule book changes to reflect society as time passes. Today, dress codes are falling out of style and individualism is on the rise. But as Ebanks says, “In the quest of being unique everyone kind of ends up looking the same.”