Celebrating White Shirt Day: Standing with automotive union workers
Trinity Adams, News and Feature Editor
National White Shirt Day was created on February 11, 1945, during the Flint sit-down strike. The strike was held in protest of the working conditions of automotive workers in Michigan. The United Automobile Workers secretly devised a plan to host a sit-in. The plan was for the workers to come to their shift at the factory and shut the plant down. The workers did not work, but they also did not allow anyone to leave the campus.
During this sit-in, the workers wore white shirts like their managers and other higher-ups to show that the workers deserved as much respect as the managers. From this day came many of the protections that automobile workers have today.
During this day, the goal is to wear a white shirt and keep it as clean as possible, showing respect for the work that automotive workers do and standing in solidarity with them.
Although wearing a white shirt seems like a basic part of an outfit, February 11 is the day you want it to be the focal point.
The first step to styling a white shirt is picking the style of the shirt. If you want to stay as true to the original cause, wear a white button-down. A white T-shirt is a better alternative if you don’t have a white button-down shirt.
The key to making the shirt the focal point is keeping the outfit simple and accessorizing around the shirt. For women, if you have a tight-fitted shirt wear a pair of wide-leg jeans or baggy jeans. This will help balance the look. Complete the look by adding a blue or red colored baseball cap, gold jewelry and a simple pair of white sneakers.
For a woman who has an oversized button-up shirt, there are three ways to style the shirt. You can wear the shirt buttoned up, tucked or untucked. Be sure to leave the top three buttons undone to be able to accessorize. If you would rather wear it untucked you can wear a colored shirt like red or blue to create layers.
With this style be sure to roll the sleeves to add more depth to the look. With these looks, fitted or straight jeans to help balance the look. With these looks wear a sleek updo like a bun, ponytail or bubble braid to add another style element, but also help draw attention to the shirt. Pair this outfit with a simple pair of high-top sneakers.
For men, if you are wearing a fitted T-shirt, wear a pair of Carpenter jeans or straight jeans. This will help make the shirt the main focus by adding a blocky layer on the bottom. With style wear a colored pair of low-top sneakers to add a pop of color.
If you are wearing a button-up shirt, you can wear it fully buttoned and tucked into a pair of straight-leg jeans to provide a better outfit silhouette. If you plan on wearing the shirt fully buttoned, I suggest rolling up the sleeve to around your forearm to give it a less formal look. To complete this look add a pair of boots or high-top sneakers.
White Shirt Day was created to honor workers in the automotive industry. To acknowledge the hard work and the physically draining hours that they put in for the things that we take for granted every day.
