Wearing White Pants After Labor Day – Is it O.K?
It’s 2024, but many women still ask, Is it okay to wear white pants after Labor Day?
The short answer is Yes! The old No White Rule that we all used to live by is long dead and gone. White pants can look very stylish this time of year. It’s all about the kind you wear and what you wear them with. Here are 5 style tips for how to wear white pants in the Fall.
1. Pepper in Fall Colors
The easiest way to pull off white pants after Labor Day is to mix in darker fall colors. For example, you could wear a print blouse that has a white base and a few fall shades into the print. Or, try a fall top in a solid color like burgundy or plum. All fall colors, such as rust, gold, and black, can also be chic.
2. Swap Sandals for Fall Shoes and Booties
Strappy Sandals, flip flops, and slides with white pants scream summer. White pants look more in sync with fall when you wear them with closed-toe shoes and fall booties.
Try pairing white pants with a mule, flat, heel, or loafer. It might be too warm still for a tall boot, but a beautiful bootie in a light neutral shade like tan, taupe, grey, or brown will ground your Autumn look.
Black booties can also work, but brown is a softer transition and doesn’t look as heavy. Animal print footwear like leopard or snake print are considered neutrals and look great with white pants.
3. Switch to Pants in Warmer Whites
Most white summer pants are cool, icy, bright, and too stark for fall, especially if you wear bright white head-to-toe.
One way to get around this as the temperatures drop is to wear off-white, cream, taupe, or beige pants. If you like an all-one-color look, wear these off-white shades head to toe for an elegant fall style. Be sure to vary the texture of your pieces so your monochromatic outfit does not look boring. This creamy cashmere ribbed sweater adds a high-end fall touch.
4. Wear Thicker White Pants
More important than the shade of white you wear after Labor Day is the weight and thickness of your white pants. Thin, lightweight white pants, such as linen, are too flimsy for sweaters and layering. White denim jeans, white corduroy jeans, or an off-white, lined pair of dress pants look great worn with a nice fall top or sweater.
5. Focus on Texture
Textured materials like tweed, suede, and leather instantly make an outfit more fall-like. The easiest place to find these are in your footwear and accessories.
Add a tweed or quilted bag or layering in a soft leather jacket. Suede booties and shoes add texture and weight, making white pants look more appropriate for Autumn. Even mixing black with white is a classy, timeless look.
6. Add a Knit Top or Sweater
White Jeans and a great tee or pretty top like this animal print one are perfect in the summer, but a lightweight knit makes your outfit more fall-like. Try pairing white jeans with a thin sweater, or keep your tee and throw a cardigan on top. Once the weather gets cooler, a thicker, chunky sweater with white pants and booties is also a fabulous look.
7. Wear White Pants with Year Round Basics
When in doubt, fall back on the basics you can wear all year round. For example, a striped top, a chambray shirt, or a utility jacket worn with white jeans is an excellent transition piece. A fall-colored scarf, bag, or fall jewelry will tie the look together.
8. Pair with an Animal Print
Animal prints are considered neturals and are a natural way to create a look that spans all seasons.
Plus, they happen to look pretty darn great with white jeans and this jacket.
This jacket is particularly nice because of its gorgeous fit. It’s cropped and nips in at the side, giving you great shape at the waist. It feels more feminine than most cargo jackets.
I like to turn up the sleeves on the jacket to make it look even sportier.
These mules were already in my wardrobe. Suede is so luxurious, and this golden color is very fall-like, but the open toes make it feel like summer isn’t quite over yet!
All in all, this is a cute and handy transitional outfit. Worn together or separately with other things, these classic pieces will serve you well and give you a starting point for many cute outfits year-round.
Now you know how to wear white pants in Autumn, here’s how to transition a white dress into fall.
Thanks for the confidence boost and guidance on wearing white pants.
Hi Deb! I love this post. I’m heading up to northern WI for a month and taking my white pants with me for this still-warm weather and the coolness to come! Good ideas!
Great post.
As Jennell stated, I am taking the step to wear white jeans in Winter. I’m going to pair it with a loose-fitting black top, and I’m going to wear black clogs with a little bit of a heel. I’ve always been too timid to take the plunge, but tomorrow, I will go for it.
I love how you put things together- & even better, go the step further to offer where to get the items… It would be perfect – if you had the link to purchase the actual product in the “look.” Thanks! If more women benefited from your knowledge or took the time to just read-look at your site, there would be fewer 16/60s walking around… U should blast it out to all the hs mons who r hanging onto & wearing their daughter’s styles!!
Hi Tammy, Great to hear from you. The link to buy the clothes are in the post. See the little photos of clothes underneath each collage? Click on those to purchase. Cheers, Deborah
I agree we are enjoying an Indian summer here in London, and I wore my white jeans today.
Yes, white can look fab, and so can cream. I have a pair of cream-colored jeans and a light creamy caramel-colored sweater I wore yesterday, and it looked great for this time of year when the weather is in-between. It had a rich monochromatic look. Cheers, Deborah
Wow, maybe it’s me, but it’s the twenty-first century, and you would think we would be over these silly, pretentious adages like “No white after Labor Day.” It’s an obnoxious rule that pompous people probably derived for affected people.
While I still believe that certain occasions and environments call for decorum, all this “wear this, wear that” is driven by silly, artificial rules from another time. If you live in Florida, why would you need to wear grey tweed in October? Silly rules!
Hi Deb, I love the website; check it every day!
I am an Australian, and we wear white all year round, no rules. Too laid back, I think! x
Hi Jenny,
Great to hear from you!! I am always interested in what you are all wearing and doing across the pond!!!
I have finally decided to wear my white jeans year-round! I also wear open-toed sandals year-round :) My plan is to white jeans with fall-colored tops and sweaters and boots. This is a big step for me, as I always thought there was no white after Labor Day:)
Hi Jennell,
Great to hear from you! You live in Florida. Good for you! Enjoy your white!!!
I live in Arizona. Temperatures here are still in the low 100s in September. I work in a resort, and I love to see women still enjoying white in these ways: A gauzy white blouse with a colorful long skirt… shawls for a breezy evening on the patio…flowy open blouse over tank tops with any bottom piece. NO white shoes or handbags, please! I’ve always thought of white shoes or bags as “old-lady-ish,” anyway. BAH!
Hi Bobbi,
LOL…White shoes are tricky even in summer or hot climates…much nicer to find a pretty pair of bronze, gold, or silver (the dull kind, not the shiny)! As long as they are updated, white purses can undoubtedly be fabulous, but they get dirty and dingy quickly, so they are a maintenance nuisance and have to be tossed sooner than later.
I love these tips! The clothes you see are very different in Florida! I think too many people dress TOO casually there! I could use some improvement, too! ♥
Hi Lavender Dreams,
Yes, I visit Florida frequently and have seen the “too casual, too often” as well. Probably because the weather is so lovely and warm, it is easy to throw on a pair of capris or shorts and a t-shirt and call it a day. No need to do that…a little sun dress and flat sandals will always look more polished and can be more relaxed! There are many ways to dump the frump and start feeling more energized and pretty when you go out!