Many people grew up hearing “you can’t wear white after Labor Day.” That edict came from none other than Vogue Magazine, which decreed: “White, while perfect for the country, it is, because it soils so easily, impossible for town wear.” That was in 1925.

Today, however, fashion voices, including Vogue, have decided that rule is defunct.

Why did we have that rule in the first place? You can thank the Gilded Age. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, white clothing was associated with upper class leisure. In the summer, wealthy families could afford to leave their city homes (with unpaved, dusty roads and horse carriages that were a terrible match for pristine clothes) and spend the season in their country homes in Newport, Acadia, The Adirondacks, and The Hamptons. There, wearing white linen

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