Why is Twain the Man in White?
Today many people visualize the white-haired Mark Twain in a white suit and assume he wore white most of his life. It was the fashion of the day to wear white suits during the warm months and to switch to dark colors with colder weather. Mark Twain followed this custom until December of 1906. On December 1 he appeared before Congress to argue for new copyright law. He wanted to make an impression, so he opted to wear his white suit, out of season, to draw attention to himself. This act had its intention fulfilled. Newspaper accounts, complete with artist’s sketches, identified him in white. For much of the rest of his life he continued to wear white, building the persona many know him by. He called the white suits his don’t-give-a-dam clothes.