What do you think of when you think of white? A beautiful bride on her wedding day, puffy clouds rolling across a blue sky, the white dresses of the suffragettes fighting for their rights, the white sands of Greece, or John Travolta’s white suite in Saturday Night Fever? In western culture white signifies equality, and hope while in eastern cultures it is a color of mourning. For a color that is considered a non-color its influences are widespread.
Since pure white doesn’t exist in nature, it can have a negative effect on us and come across as overwhelming and cold. However, we all want a hospital to appear to be a sterile environment, or to experience the cleanliness of crisp white linens on a bed. White creates order and space and sometimes we need a little bit of this “non-color” to give us a breather. White light contains all the colors so maybe that is the reason we think of it as impartial or neutral, there is no color that doesn’t play nice with white. It represents a clean slate which translates to purity and new beginnings.
Somewhere along the way we adopted the “don’t wear white after Labor Day” rule. Some say this was born from practicality because wearing white, lightweight fabrics in the summer kept one cooler prior to having air conditioning, while others speculate this practice was a show of wealth and refinement. In the 20s, the well-to-do often wore white linen suits and breezy white dresses on summer vacations which indicated you had the means to take vacations but wearing white after the official end of summer was considered showy. Some historians think this was a rule for the wealthy to separate themselves from the working class, which is ironic because at one time in history, the working class wore white/natural fabrics because they couldn’t afford dyed clothing. The ever-fashionable Coco Chanel bucked this trend by officially making white a permanent staple in her wardrobe, regardless of the season.
I know lots of people that LOVE wearing white and look amazing in it. They all seem to have a knack for never getting dirty. So, when I see someone wearing white, I think it creates an immaculate look that conveys self-control and poise. I, on the other hand, merely look at white and it gets dirty. Although I am not an all-white-pants kind of gal, I love it as an accent color in design, as an all-white accessory like a purse, or boldly worn as multiple strands of pearls. Let’s not forget all the different variations of white like ivory, oyster, snow, and eggshell to name a few. These variations may be easier to wear depending on your skin tone, or what you want to convey on any given day.
So, if you want to gain clarity of thought or convey purity of spirit, you don’t have to wear “pure” white, you only have to wear a reminder of those things to achieve them. If wearing a shade of white, is that reminder for you, then it doesn’t really matter what time season it is, or what shade of white it is, just go for it!
XO-
Mel