Don’t Wear White After Labor Day – Louisiana, Do You Know Why?

In Morgan City, Louisiana the booths are being prepared, the stages are being built, the power lines are being run, and the funnel cakes are about to be dropped into the grease. It is the annual celebration of seafood and oil that's known as the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival.

The festival is already underway and will run through the Labor Day weekend in downtown Morgan City. Yes, there will be plenty of food. Yes, there will be a lot of live music. And yes, you can still wear white, if you're brave. I mean, it is a celebration of Shrimp and Petroleum both of which can be wash day problems for the messy individual.

Why Can't You Wear White After Labor Day?

And the conundrum of where to wipe your hands after eating a messy shrimp po-boy is a legitimate concern, especially if you're wearing white, the bigger question is the one you see depicted above. Why can't you wear white after Labor Day?

First, you should know this "law" is only enforceable by the "fashion police" and to be honest, most of them will look the other way when it comes to "white after Labor Day".

Second, the "no white after Labor Day" is what a lot of us would consider "peer pressure from dead people", also known as a tradition. But have you ever wondered how the tradition got started?

There Were Status Updates Long Before Social Media

Long before Facebook, Instagram, and X people concerned themselves with social status in different ways. There were no mass appeal methods to share what you had for dinner, your thoughts on an election, or let those who are watching just how much "better" you are than them.

So, if you wanted to show your social status you had to do it with the way you dressed. Those with money wore white and light-colored clothing in the summer months, especially in the south, because it was cooler. The well-to-do also didn't have to do manual labor so wearing white was not a "washday" issue.

White and light-colored clothing was what the "elites" from back in the day would wear on holiday. And since the holiday season ended with Labor Day that meant there would no longer be a need for wearing white clothing. And that's how the "don't wear white after Labor Day" got started. 

It should also be noted that in many places the weather starts to get cooler after Labor Day, Louisiana is not one of those places. So the shift to cold weather clothes, which were usually darker in color anyway, also expedited the removal of white and light colors from many people's fashion palate.