Wearing White in America

When it comes to wearing white, Americans adhere to a peculiar code. Of course, this code alters with geography and culture; wearing white in Washington D.C. is very different from wearing white in New York City, Chicago, or Atlanta. And, before you read further, I must confess to not knowing much about the west coast as I've spent most of my life adhering to that one simple, possibly unfair, rule: "Limit your time in California."

The Hollywood Smile

1. White Teeth: We like our teeth as white as our paper, or so my German friends tease. You can never have teeth too white or too glossy. Teeth are no occasion for modest, matte tones.

2. Wear white shoes between Easter and Labor Day: This rule firmly continues to make its mark on America.  Whether or not you follow the rule speaks volumes about how you view yourself and your place in society. Wearing white shoes is synonymous with vacationing, an activity relegated to those months between Easter and Labor Day for most middle-class families. (This probably explains the reputation American tourists have for tromping about Europe in gleaming white tennies.)

Summer 2009 collection

3. Bright vs. weathered white clothing: Although there are exceptions, Americans, as a general rule, do not wear bleached, bright whites in urban or country settings but rather at the beach.  Our whites tend to be weathered or "dirty" to an outsider's eye, so our whites are not pure white, per say, but off-white, ivory, winter white, or "natural" white.  The one consistent exception to this is a professional one, wherein some business, medical, or political occupations beg for a crisp white collar as a part of the daily uniform.

Whitney White Linen Night (captured by Kevin Zansler)

4. One of many exceptions is White Linen Night: Every sultry summer, southerners (particularly those in Houston and New Orleans) don their white linen and stroll around the arts districts for an evening of cultural leisure. For some reason, this habit, as well as its cousin--Dirty Linen Night--which falls in step with the American tradition of mussed whites, has a way of popping up at any Southern art festival.

White Bucks

6. White Bucks v. White Tennies: These two staples of the American wardrobe probably represent the range of American dress better than anything else. The bucks fall into that mussed white category while the tennis shoes fall into the gleaming white category.

White Tennies

7. A girl & her pearls: I would be remiss to overlook the tradition of the Bostonian socialite and southern belle. A girl must always have a string of gleaming white pearls.
 

Of course, the list is far from complete. Perhaps there is something which you would add?