Tailoring is becoming less structured and more comfortable. For summer casually cool linen has gained popularity, but close on its heels is seersucker - ideal for hotter weather when a lightweight, airy, and relatively crushproof cloth is essential. While remaining crisp and elegant in the heat it develops a slightly lived in look which Gregory Peck displays to perfection in To Kill a Mockingbird (see below).
Originally from India, it was introduced to Europe on the eighteenth century and while we now associate it with the USA (where it started out as workwear for the poor but later became an essential part of a preppy summer outfit), it was originally adopted by the British and other Europeans for wear in hotter climes.
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Gregory Peck wears seersucker as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 |
Seersucker is woven from cotton, linen or manmade fibres, although I suggest you avoid the latter. Some years ago I was loaned a seersucker suit which had been worn on the catwalk at the late lamented London Collections: Men. It looked great; navy blue, double breasted with slim trousers with turn ups. However, the cloth was made from a synthetic fibre which meant that on hot days it became almost unwearable: hot, damp and smelly. Natural fabrics, on the other hand, remain breathable and comfortable.
The cloth is woven at varying tensions so that it has alternating puckered stripes which are said to lift the material away from the body, allowing cooling and drying air to circulate; whether this is a valid scientific explanation I don't know. Certainly seersucker is light in weight and I find it cooler to wear than medium-weight linens, even though it has a tighter weave. Its slight elasticity adds to its comfort.
We tend to associate seersucker with blue or grey and white stripes, but it's available in plain colours and a wide variety of stripes (see below).
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Cecil Beaton wears Anderson & Sheppard seersucker in 1936 |
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David Hockney 1967 |
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James Stewart in seersucker, Spencer Tracy in linen |
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Miles Davis in seersucker |
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Wearing seersucker |