Rebel

 

Growing up I was told to never wear white after Labor Day. Mostly it referred to shoes. White blouses were okay. 

I wasn't sure what would happen, if I did wear white shoes. Would I be smote by some fashion goddess? Locked in a store to replace whatever white I was wearing?

When I sailed to Germany to join my soldier husband in Germany in 1962, my father, who had driven me to New York and wanted to make sure I was safely aboard, found another young Army wife also sailing to join her husband. She was German. It was November. She wore white shoes. It startled me because the no white shoes after Labor Day had been pounded into me

Labor day in France comes in May. Naturally that is the start of the white-show-wearing season. In Switzerland there is no September Labor Day.

On September 10, I happily put on my white sneakers (baskets in French, Trainers in English-English). They are comfortable. Better yet they have no brand name and it took me three years to find non brand name sneakers. I wore jeans and a white turtle neck.

Somehow it made me feel like a rebel and dumb for feeling like a rebel.

I may even wear them in October? November? No by then I will want my boots.