Aloha Friday Motivation | Labor Day Edition | #260

Happy Aloha Friday!

I trust everyone is gearing up for a phenomenal Labor Day Weekend. Unofficially, the last weekend (or bookend) of summer, this is the official holiday for workers…so, well, basically, everyone. The first Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5th, 1882 in NYC in accordance with the Central Labor Union. This caught on and spread to almost half the country in just two years. A decade later, a law, put into effect by President Grover Cleveland, proclaimed the first Monday in September to be observed as the Labor Day holiday.

Labor Day celebrates the tireless campaigning of women and men fighting for workers’ rights at a time when things like work/life Balance, workplace safety, paid time off, sick leave, mat/pat leave, etc…were pipe dreams. Though many said "don't hold you BREATH!" These efforts were accretive and it is because of their passion and determination that these luxuries of yesteryear are now the norm.

Now I know you are asking, what the heck does it mean to never wear white after labor day? Good question! According to Vogue, during the Gilded Age (because white easily showed dirt), "To wear white was a subtle way of showing you weren’t doing the landscaping, cooking, or cleaning—or, well, manual labor at all." By the 1950's, no white after labor day was a firm rule by the “old money elite” to separate themselves from the newly wealthy. Later on, this fashion trend spread to the masses and was adopted by all, noting that you take out your whites out at the onset of summer (Memorial Day) and store them away when summer ends (Labor Day). According to most, now, it is just nonsense, classist, and elitist. But I digress...

And, as you don your white attire one last time this weekend, before packing it away, be sure to check out these 15 songs to celebrate workers .