There are a few things that I've done my entire life...and when I was too young to do it for myself, my mother did it for me. At every Labor Day's close I would grudgingly put away my white pants, white jeans and white shoes. Even though the sun is still bright and that hint of fall I spoke of in an earlier post was just a ruse, I'll do it...we do it...because we are from the South and well...that's just what you do. "No white (below the waist) after Labor Day" is an unspoken rule that is followed probably more than any other fashion rule that I know of in my neck of the woods. Unless of course you are a bride and then it is allowed during the week of your wedding and honeymoon. But...what happens when the rule is broken? Well, it'll garner some pretty strong looks and an assumption that you are either not from the South or worse, the comment..."bless her heart". Now, here I am...a girl born and raised in the South...the deep South...and yet I find myself looking longingly at my white pants...my skinny white jeans that fall just long enough to wear my highest Chanel-esque wood clogs.
I hear it all the time in all kinds of interviews and read columns in all kinds of fashion magazines that suggest..."the rules have changed...we actually CAN wear white after Labor Day...and apparently there really aren't any rules anymore". Yet, after hearing this bit of news over and over again I am still timid about slipping into white mid-September. And why? Why am I worried? What's going to happen? And, why do I care? I've also heard that "rules are meant to be broken", yet breaking into the local country club's pool after hours makes me less nervous than wearing white after Labor Day. And so, I guess ..."old habits really do die hard" because I'm not sure I can bring myself to change my ways.
Maybe it's the South, maybe it's the heat...or maybe it's just me...either way, the tradition will remain...they'll be tucked away...and like a kid on Easter morning I'll pull them out and start a new season. Tradition...rules...and Southern pride in tact.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
White Lies
There are a few things that I've done my entire life...and when I was too young to do it for myself, my mother did it for me. At every Labor Day's close I would grudgingly put away my white pants, white jeans and white shoes. Even though the sun is still bright and that hint of fall I spoke of in an earlier post was just a ruse, I'll do it...we do it...because we are from the South and well...that's just what you do. "No white (below the waist) after Labor Day" is an unspoken rule that is followed probably more than any other fashion rule that I know of in my neck of the woods. Unless of course you are a bride and then it is allowed during the week of your wedding and honeymoon. But...what happens when the rule is broken? Well, it'll garner some pretty strong looks and an assumption that you are either not from the South or worse, the comment..."bless her heart". Now, here I am...a girl born and raised in the South...the deep South...and yet I find myself looking longingly at my white pants...my skinny white jeans that fall just long enough to wear my highest Chanel-esque wood clogs.
I hear it all the time in all kinds of interviews and read columns in all kinds of fashion magazines that suggest..."the rules have changed...we actually CAN wear white after Labor Day...and apparently there really aren't any rules anymore". Yet, after hearing this bit of news over and over again I am still timid about slipping into white mid-September. And why? Why am I worried? What's going to happen? And, why do I care? I've also heard that "rules are meant to be broken", yet breaking into the local country club's pool after hours makes me less nervous than wearing white after Labor Day. And so, I guess ..."old habits really do die hard" because I'm not sure I can bring myself to change my ways.
Maybe it's the South, maybe it's the heat...or maybe it's just me...either way, the tradition will remain...they'll be tucked away...and like a kid on Easter morning I'll pull them out and start a new season. Tradition...rules...and Southern pride in tact.
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