I believe it is more fashion than function, some clearly warranted (women in white after the swim is probably not the best option). Black or dark tend to be the normal but you see more light colors and white in the pro ranks especially at Hawaii. Chris, Torborn, a few others. Definitely makes a difference on those long hot days. I haven't seen any white shorts actually, but finding a white top shouldn't be too tough. I wore this 2XU top in red last year, but they have white. Very comfortable and form fitting. (http://2xu.com/triathlon/mt1196a.html)

Ha! I hope Chunky doesn't come down on me :)

Oh yeah, Tribro, you're going down you spammer.

All I can say is at a sprint tri I did last year, there was a fellow clydesdale who was in dire need of some groundskeeping, and he did the swim in white tri shorts (or maybe they were just under armor). I've never been closer to quitting triathlon.

He was in my oly wave and he was wearing only white under armour. Goal number one was to swim fast enough that I didn't have to get out of the water right after him.

Speaking of which: where happened to the Trifuel store? I was looking around the site and couldn't find anything.

And back on-topic: I can understand non-white bottoms, but the tops not as much. Just a style thing?

i think they posed for that one...

Here's the shop. Only a handful of stuff left in the apparel, though plenty of hats and visors.
http://www.trifuel.com/shop/team

Spreadshirt T's:
http://trifuel.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/