# when can you break out the white bucks ... the Definitive Answer



## blastandcast (Nov 29, 2006)

Gentlemen:

I think the essay found at the following should put to rest the pressing question of when you can safely break out the white bucks. 

Blastandcast


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## Speas (Mar 11, 2004)

Best and craziest article ever on the subject. This quote is a representative



> Now, admittedly, this fashion stuff was mostly higher- income people in the first place, and whether or not this date was observed by a man plowing a mule -switching his and his mule's hats from the wool hat to the straw hat- I just cannot say for sure.


Deo Vidice


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## randomdude (Jun 4, 2007)

Fun article.

The thing that's always tickled me about the "when can you wear white shoes" rule is that it always seems to be mentioned by people who would never ever wear white shoes or seersucker or anything fun. I mean, if someone is wearing white bucks you know that's someone that has a bit of fun with their clothes and wouldn't be offended by something trivial like wearing them before Memorial Day.


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## Brooksfan (Jan 25, 2005)

Definitively you are free to wear white bucks here in Chicago once the risk of stepping into grayish/brownish melting slush from the winter snow is gone for good. Exact date varies but figure about May 15 give or take a week. Put them away when the next winter weather appears in late September or early October.


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## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

*Easter and New Orleans*

I work in the New Orleans CBD, and can vouch for some of the peculiar customs the author noted. Yes, in NOLA you will see black shoes and black belts with white suits (sometimes linen, more often wool). And definitely the summer wardrobe gets broken out at Easter. Already the seersucker and poplin are pretty thick on the ground. The first formal event, with the optional New Orleans tuxedo (a white linen suit), occurs at the beginning of May every year.


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

I still follow the Memorial Day to Labor Day rule, but considering it's basically summer in a lot of the country already (and continues like that well into October), who's to say anymore? Throw global warming into the mix and we'll be wearing our white bucks for the family Christmas photo in a the future!:icon_smile_big:


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## PedanticTurkey (Jan 26, 2008)

Yeah, it's pretty obvious that _Memorial Day_ is not a native Southern thing, on account of that we didn't recognize the holiday until very recently.


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## jsk85 (Nov 4, 2008)

In rural Georgia, the white shoe season begins for the most part on Easter and lasts so long as the temperature is consistently above 80 degrees. Labor day never seemed as hard-and-fast an end as Easter was a beginning. Of course, if you have any traditional spring outdoor activities that happen to fall on a weekend before Easter, I reckon that would also constitute a proper occasion to wear white.

-Joseph Knight


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## tsherry (Dec 30, 2005)

*Memorial Day*

Since I actually am a Yankee, as opposed to my sister who went down to Duke and stayed, thus becoming a "D**N Yankee!", I adhere to the Memorial Day to Labor Day rule for white bucks, seersucker, and linen suits. I even change over to Bill's poplins and break out lighter, brighter shirts (gingham checks, etc.) as well as the tan shoes.

It's sort of a ritualistic thing, like the sailors switching from blues to whites. Back when I was drinking, it was time to change from scotch to G&T.


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## blastandcast (Nov 29, 2006)

*Ya'll need to catch up....*

I have already broken out the white bucks, seersucker and the G and T!:icon_smile:


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## AlanC (Oct 28, 2003)

As I've said on here repeatedly, Easter, and if conservative, Derby Day. Memorial Day is way too late.

(I say this as someone who would and does wear white bucks, seersucker and spectators [although the last not at the same time as the bucks!].)


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## FlashForFreedom (May 16, 2009)

For what it is worth, by way of analogy, Army Regulation 670-1 (Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia) allows for the wear of the Army dress white and mess dress white uniforms from April to September (and year round in tropical climates). I am sure that standard was set many, many years ago.


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## 127.72 MHz (Feb 16, 2007)

There's no Definitive answer.

Bill Woodward
Portland, Oregon


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## rl1856 (Jun 7, 2005)

There is a by the book answer and then regional variations.

When I grew up in suburban NJ, White Bucks, Linen and other summer items were mostly a Memorial Day to Labor Day ritual. You could get a way with waiting as late as Sept 15 to put the items away if you were experiencing Indian Summer.

When I lived in Atlanta it was either the weekend of the Atlanta Steeplechase or Easter Sunday, whichever was earlier in the year. For the most part, Easter seems to be the demarcation line in much of the South.

Regarding Memorial Day- it was recently explained to me that because much of the South did not (and some do not) celebrate traditional Memorial Day, Confederate Memorial Day became the day to mark the beginning of the summer season. Makes some sense....by late April Early May it can be very hot in places like Vicksburg Ms. And of course many of the local families have long memories.

Best,

Ross


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## efdll (Sep 11, 2008)

*Bucking the trend*

Coming of age in the west coast of Florida in the late '50s an early '60s, white bucks were worn year round, often with madras Bermuda shorts, no socks, and pretty beat up the white bucks, as I recall. It was a mix of collegiate insouciance with Southern languor and tropical I'm-too-wrecked-to-care attitude. In the actual tropics (Florida is north of the Tropic of Cancer), where I was born, shoes were (anything having to do with male style has to be written in the past tense now) kept spotless and linen suits crisp. However, after a few years in the American South and exposed to what we here call trad, I developed a taste for elegant slovenliness. Need I add that a seersucker suit should look like the humidity just pounded the shape out of it, and given the humidity in a gulf coast sumer, it sure as hell will.


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## Orsini (Apr 24, 2007)

Straw hat season started the other day...


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## Good Old Sledge (Jun 13, 2006)

The First Saturday in May. It's the Kentucky Derby, for crying out loud. You're going to drink a julep (yes, it's horrible, but it's tradition). How much more "summer" do you need? 
Easter's fine, too, Alan, but I can never keep track of when it's going to be. The Derby, though - that's something you can plan ahead for.


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## blastandcast (Nov 29, 2006)

What do you mean that a mint julep is horrible? It is one of man's finest inventions and to borrow from Ben Franklin - further proof that God loves the South.


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## rabidawg (Apr 14, 2009)

Mint Juleps are fine if you leave out the mint, sugar, and most of the water.


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## PorterSq (Apr 17, 2008)

From my perspective boy-os, I'd say it is NEVER white shoe season.

My forecast calls for 12 months of various brown colored shoes, with occasional interspersion of cordovan, tan (dirty bucs) and black (with evening wear and for solemn occasions only).


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## edward9 (May 8, 2009)

I can't stop smiling after watching this video:






"I'm bringing white bucks back in style; they haven't been in style for a while..."

I guess it's 3 years old, but pretty funny.


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## nick.mccann (May 3, 2009)

What is everyone's opinion on white bucks with shorts? I need a shoe to wear with shorts and I'm tired of boat shoes. I have a pair of suede penny loafers I wear with shorts, but want something else.


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## ZachGranstrom (Mar 11, 2010)

nick.mccann said:


> What is everyone's opinion on white bucks with shorts? I need a shoe to wear with shorts and I'm tired of boat shoes. I have a pair of suede penny loafers I wear with shorts, but want something else.


I think it is a good combo. ( I wear this look often)


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## JDDY (Mar 18, 2006)

nick.mccann said:


> What is everyone's opinion on white bucks with shorts? I need a shoe to wear with shorts and I'm tired of boat shoes. I have a pair of suede penny loafers I wear with shorts, but want something else.


Make sure you feel good about it but, in a word, hell yeah.


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## oldschoolprep (Jun 21, 2007)

*White Buck Window*

The proper Old School time window for wearing white bucks and similar footwear is Memorial Day through Labor Day. Neither a day earlier or a day later unless you are a US Naval officer. I loved wearing my whites as a young ensign just out of Newport OCS!!!!!


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## mcarthur (Jul 18, 2005)

it all depends on location- if i lived in honolulu, i could wear white bucks all year long


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