The custom of wearing light, often white, clothing during the summer goes back to the 19th century, when the lack of air conditioning necessitated other measures to cool down. In a time when appropriate attire mandated layers of fabrics, what you wore had important role in regulating body temperature. Fabrics like linen and silk are more breathable, and white doesn’t absorb heat as quickly as darker colors. White clothes were a practical fashion choice for summer. Together with straw hats and sun umbrellas, they created a more casual look, which was more suitable to a season marked by “a break” from the regular activities of school and work.
Wearing white during the summer had another important function: It was a marker of class and luxury. White fabrics might disguise sweat, but they tend to show dirt far more easily and thus was harder to maintain. Only those who didn’t need to work for a living, or who could avoid walking in filthy streets, could don white outfits without getting them sullied. Indeed, during the 19th century in cities like New York and Chicago — where sewage, horse manure, and constant air pollution were a fixture — it was almost impossible to keep light-colored clothes clean, no matter the season. White colors were thus only worn in the countryside, far away from the bustling commotion of city life, and only by those who could afford to get out.
For the Gilded Age elite, who often decamped to their second homes in Newport and Saratoga Springs during the summer, wearing white clothes served not only as way to distinguish themselves from the working-class, but also from urban life. As they moved their social calendar to resort towns during the summer, they also transformed their wardrobes.
White clothes became associated not only with the countryside but also with leisure sports such as tennis and golf that only the rich could enjoy. In 1877, the London Wimbledon Club made white tennis clothes a requirement to play, and in 1880, the tennis club of The Newport Casino in Rhode Island also mandated white clothing on the court.
When summer drew to a close and the rich returned to the city, their wardrobe also changed as they swapped their flowy white dresses for darker and more formal clothes. When fall came, wearing white was frowned upon; it made it easy to tell who was not well versed in society’s customs.