CHARLOTTE, N.C. — We're officially past Labor Day and as the old saying goes, you can't wear white anymore.
It's a tradition that's been passed down for generations, but why? Let's connect the dots.
It turns out that not wearing white after Labor Day actually goes back about 200 years. In the 19th century, wealthy New Yorkers would spend their summers on vacation near the coast, wearing white outfits to stay cool.
When the season was over, they'd pack up their outfits and return to the dirty city.
Wearing white was a sign of being upper class since your outfits wouldn't get dirty while working. Once folks packed up their white outfits after Labor Day, they would stay in storage until the weather got warm again.
While it's just a saying now, this was very much the way people would dictate their fashion up until fairly recently. However, in the 1960s and '70s, the trend began to fade away with white being acceptable after Labor Day and in cooler months.
RELATED: Here's why we celebrate Labor Day
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