Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/White clothing


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Can be restored if somebody wants to merge the content elsewhere or use it as a basis of a more focused article.  Sandstein  07:57, 15 June 2021 (UTC)

White clothing

 * – ( View AfD View log )

WP:REDUNDANTFORK, we don't have red clothing or black clothing for good reason, certain pieces of clothing which are white might have cultural or social importance, but just about any piece of clothing that's white does not. And it's for this reason that this article is really just a compilation of trivia, with none of the sections having any real connection to each other or order, because there just isn't anything to say about the subject. Loafiewa (talk) 09:08, 29 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Fashion-related deletion discussions. Loafiewa (talk) 09:08, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

 Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
 * Automated comment: This AfD was not correctly transcluded to the log (step 3). I have transcluded it to Articles for deletion/Log/2021 May 29.  —cyberbot I   Talk to my owner :Online 14:55, 29 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Delete per WP:SYNTH of unrelated topics. –LaundryPizza03 ( d c̄ ) 21:06, 29 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Maybe you should change the name to "White Clothes," or "White Attire." This is a diversity and inclusion article that concerns worldwide significance of white clothing to religion, job professions, art/fashion, literature, culture, social status, and more. I have not finished contributing, will work on it this summer, adding text and images, and I probably will not have the time to do much on format.  This is more like a UN piece, achieving cultural diversity and showing a similar thought process along the color of white clothing in many cultures with the same attitudes on why they wear them.  This is a very serious piece, not frivolous.  The person that started the "White Clothing" article is just great for doing that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by HACNY (talk • contribs) 18:30, 31 May 2021 (UTC)
 * A similar thought process to what UN pieces exactly? You seem to be pre-occupied with the notion of diversity, which might make your stated purpose of this article fall under WP:Advocacy. You should also remember to sign your posts with four tildes (~). Loafiewa (talk) 14:35, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Merge and redirect - Merge into the appropriate articles as needed (religion, fashion, etc) and then redirect to Clothing as an WP:Alternatives to deletion. Missvain (talk) 20:26, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks,  Sandstein   11:29, 6 June 2021 (UTC) Comment For what it's worth, my opinion is this is a noteworthy topic, that could have encyclopedic value for WP. The way I think about it is, while WP does not have "black clothing" nor "red clothes" articles, it does have other specific categories of clothing that have special significance culturally or historically. For example, Veil, which, because of its distinct and separate symbolism and cultural importance, has not been merged into headgear. Similarly, there is an article for Black and white hat symbolism in film. I grant that this not quite the same, as it's a specific use in an art form, but it is related in the sense of being a discussion of the cultural meaning an item of clothing can have.

White clothes have had a very long history, cross-culturally, of marking certain people or groups, or signifying something particular about them. It is especially associated with sanctity (e.g.religious robes) and cleanliness (e.g.doctors' coats and old-style nurses' uniforms). This seems to cut across cultures separated in space and time. Any colour clothing may have a special meaning at certain times or places, of course, but none but white ones have the widespread significance across time and cultures. (I know this bold statement needs a cite: I can supply!)

Of course, the information could be split and merged across several relevant articles. Many of the candidate articles for that would likely have some or all the information in them already. What I - genuinely - look for in an encyclopedic source, is for it to do some of that work for me. That is, collate an important aspect that might be in many different places, and present it in a coherent form - to elucidate something that might not be obvious on happening to read about, say, 'Catholic vestments', 'Indian mourning clothes', 'White wedding traditions', 'nuns' habits', etc., etc. and stumble upon the commonality. WP can present the commonality, its notable history, and any theorising behind it that is reported in reliable sources. There's quite a lot about the symbolism and effect of white clothes in cultural studies' academic sources. If there is any chance that this discussion will result in a "Keep", I can supply references. I will put them on the Talk page.

Sorry for the marathon comment, but just finally, I would like to note that the article had been a nice little summary of white clothing across widely differing religious traditions for years. It was too short and undeveloped, but what was there was quite informative. It is only very recently that it seems to have become rather unfocused, and a collection of anything "white clothing", with scant regard for  identifying or explaining the importance of the things added.

Anyway, thanks for reading, if you had the patience to go on this long! I hope you do not mind an IP user chiming in. 49.177.73.238 (talk) 14:14, 14 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Delete. The subject of this article is non-existent. One proponent of delete mentioned original synthesis but it isn't even that because I can't locate where the synthesis has actually been performed in the article, so that one might grasp a coherent subject here even if synthetic. It's indicative that the article lacks a lead section. The article could be conceived of as a list, but applying WP:NLIST, I would say it is non-notable, because I don't see white clothes discussed as a group or set by independent reliable sources. — Alalch Emis (talk) 17:34, 14 June 2021 (UTC)


 * Delete This page does appear to be a synthesis of numerous unrelated topics. The use of white gloves in Japanese politics and white in space suits are not related. The article should be split into relevant sections and then either merged into other pages or left as independent articles as needed. Bgrus22 (talk) 21:32, 14 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Comment Indeed, that, and similar unrelated material, along with the truly trivial now in it, is wildly out-of-scope for an encyclopedic entry on cultural and historical aspects of white clothing (of the type that might perhaps be worthwhile for WP). However, most of the article content that is along these "grab-bag" lines has been added very recently. It is up to you real Wikipedians, of course, but I am just concerned that editors are deliberating on the article's deletion mostly through the prism of it's current deplorable state, it having been flooded with such stuff. It has changed out of all recognition by edits that have been added since 27 May 2021, by one particular editor:
 * early revision, 10 October 2017
 * diff 10 December 2019 cf. next edit 1 February 2020
 * diff 16 May 2021 cf. next edit 27 May 2021
 * diff comparing prior to current editing spate to most recent edit, nearly all by one user.
 * Not saying it was a particularly good or comprehensive article before, but it was coherent and, I think, a decent candidate for expansion and improvement.
 * On the article's Talk page, I added references for the first few sources I had to hand. A very basic, unscientific, Scholar search shows many, many items specifically on white clothes symbology and cross-cultural meaning, at least on the face of it. 49.177.73.238 (talk) 04:30, 15 June 2021 (UTC)


 * Merge and redirect in some way per Missvain. We could absolutely have an encyclopedic article on color in clothing, and this could be seed material for such an article. BD2412  T 06:46, 15 June 2021 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.