Okay, Listen Here

Okay, Listen Here

Monday, April 2, 2012

Seasonal Fashion Rules

Thank goodness Easter is next week. Here in North Alabama we have had a early spring and I have white shoes and white linen clothes begging to be worn. I have white purses begging to be carried.

"Well, why don't you?" you ask. I'll tell you why. Mama said there would be days like this, when I am tempted, so tempted. She also said, "Don't. It's just not done. Not by people like us."

Well. I'm tired of being people like us. I tell myself it's silly. I see other people break the seasonal fashion rules all the time—people who are well mannered and have better sense than I do.

But I can't. Cannot. Cannot bring myself to do it.

The Seasonal Fashion Rules, According to My Mama

  • No white shoes, purses, pants, or skirts before Easter or after Labor Day. (Except tennis shoes. Also, cream is acceptable. Cream wool pants are a staple.)
  • No straw hats or purses before Easter or after Labor Day.
  • No suede after Easter until Labor Day.
  • No velvet before Labor Day or after Valentine's Day.

I know. I know. I should be my own person and wear white pants before Easter if it's 85 degrees.

How about you? Did anybody bore these rules into you? Do you still follow them?

24 comments:

  1. I don't have any white purses. Or white skirts. I do have two or three pairs of white jeans, but I don't like wearing them because they're, well, WHITE. Stuff shows up when you drop it on white pants. And just as sure as I wear white jeans, I'll sit in something that isn't white. You know how it goes.

    Except for white tennis shoes, I think I have one or two pairs of white sandals, but they're problematic because why would you wear white shoes if you aren't wearing white pants (or skirts?).

    I have no sense of fashion. I have a sense of comfort, and a sense of color. Fashion is an accident.

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    1. I think this is more of a rule issue than a fashion issue for me. No surprise. You see how I dress. A friend gave me a magnet that says, "I choose my clothes on whether or not they itch." True. And that goes for pinch, bind, or make me too hot or cold.

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  2. I wear white. And I broke the rules last week at the beach because I wore white down there. I am still a believer in the rules but I think people get a bit "tharny" at the beach.

    I have one rule that my mother/grandmother didn't have (because no one back then did it): I refuse to dress like I am twenty-years-old! I see so many women wearing hideous colors, huge flowered clothes and too-tight shirts because they think they are still in their twenties. Now, that doesn't mean that I am going to dress like my grandmother and wear small floral prints or, God forbid, house-dresses. I just mean I can't dress like a teenager; it looks stupid.

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  3. My mama drummed the white shoes rule into me, too. No white shoes before Easter or after Labor Day. I HEAR that is no longer a rule, but I don't quite believe it. It is ingrained. She also told me patent leather was only to be worn before five, but then she sneered and said, "But people break that rule all the time." I am not a rule breaker.

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  4. Clinton and Stacy say it's okay, so that's good enough for me. *g*

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    1. Lynn, I guess you always skip the ones who will love you anyway. Was looking over this again this morning to make sure I didn't skip anybody, but turns out yes.

      Clinton and Stacy are against elastic waists. They are probably right. But ah, the comfort.

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  5. The rule I heard was no white shoes til after Memorial Day. I don't have any white shoes anyway except tennis shoes. And I only have one pair of white capris (if I can still get my fat arse in them) so it's rather a moot issue for me. You didn't mention any corduroy rules, but perhaps it follows the suede rule.

    Marilyn

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    1. I have never heard anything about corduroy. I guess it usually too hot for it by Easter and not cool enough by Labor Day. But it would make sense that it follows the suede rule.

      Apparently, I have passed on the rules. The Guy has a buff colored suede blazer that he adores. I noticed he had it on in church yesterday. I guess he figured it was his last chance. But that's okay. He can now wear the seersucker and white linen blazers.

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  6. Jean,
    We grew up by the same rules, and I cannot bring myself to break them. For two weeks, I've been reaching for those white capris hanging in my closet. Nope. Can't do it. Have to wait until after Easter. After Labor Day, my white turns to cream. I see people breaking the rules and getting by with it all the time, but a little voice in my head (that's sound a lot like my mother) says, "Tsk. Tsk. How gauche--bless her heart." :-D
    PS--Cheryl, love the word tharny!

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    1. Wish I could take credit for "tharny" but the term is from "Watership Down." I liked it and use it to describe people who act like they have no sense.

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  7. My mother taught me the same rules, but now she's breaking them, with this extreme spring.
    I saw three Facebook friends posting today that they were wearing white, and Easter wasn't for another week.
    I admit, I don't wear a lot of white, but i did pull out a beautiful Banana Republic white linen coat I've had for several years yesterday, and decide I might update it by doing some Alabama Chanin-style detail work on it, when I have the time.
    I broke the hat rule this week, however, because I had some dermatological laser work done on Friday, and I have been warned to guard my skin from the sun OR ELSE. My favorite straw sunhat, however, is actually made of paper (it's a marvelous Italian thing I got at TJMAXX several years ago, I had no idea about the paper part until I read the label).

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    1. Health before rules and fashion. Every time. I don't know what Alabama Chanin-style detail work is. Does it have anything to do with the O Line. I'm a little worried about the O Line.

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  8. I grew up with the same rules and like many of you I just can't find it within my self to break most of them.

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  9. O0ps! Jean, I've been carrying around my new white purse and you never said a word. :(

    I thought the rule only applied clothing or shoes. Geez!

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    1. I didn't notice. See, I really am not the rule police. Well, I am. But I don't judge. Well, I do.

      Anyway, I have no room to talk. I am sure the only reason I have not received one Stephanie's Fashion Citations is because she doesn't want to hurt my feelings.

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    2. That's funny because you asked me about the new purse. LOL!

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  10. Rules? Wait. You mean I was supposed to listen to the rules? Mother had them. I just threw them out the window one day. :D The only white clothing I own are tee-shirts anyway, because they can be bleached. I am a Spillmate, after all.

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    1. Comfort and how things make me feel. If it makes me feel bad in any way, I don't do it. And white makes me feel like a spill waiting to happen. Of course, if Jackson Pollock showed up he could remedy the white with bold splashes of color! :)

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  11. My Mother taught me those rules too and I wouldn't DARE toss them aside in the manner that I cavalierly do much of new "fashion" out now.

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