Anyone who has seen Sophie’s Choice probably knows my favorite quote about this particular fabric. I won’t share it here for the sensitive among you, but you can Google it.

For those who don’t know, seersucker is a thin, striped, puckered fabric. Usually cotton. The source I found said it was developed by a clothier in the US South, but its name comes from the Persian for “milk and sugar” for the smooth-bumpy texture. You’ve probably seen this fabric in movies; it’s a staple worn by Southern Gentlemen. Oliver Platt wears a seersucker suit in A Time to Kill. I had a seersucker shirtdress once. It was comfy AF. But it wasn’t very sturdy and once it ripped I didn’t replace it. Same with a seersucker bedspread, although that one hung on for a couple years of steady use.

My grandfather had a suit made of this stuff that he wore every so often. My grandmother hated it because she thought he looked like an unmade bed.

The fabric was out of vogue by the time my dad had to wear work clothes. He was strictly a polyblend guy who worked in air conditioning his whole life and sweated it out only on his commutes—and not even that once he finally got an air conditioned car in Florida in the 1980s.

When I worked for a publication that covered Congress, I learned that this was a Day. Trent Lott resurrected the tradition of dressing for the season even though concrete and air conditioning had long since made DC less swampy and more tolerable. At least one of the editors where I worked also made a point to wear his suit on the given day. The hubs and I did not participate—largely because he’s not a slave to fashion and I never knew the day was upon us until I showed up at the office.

Anyone out there own any seersucker garments? Do you love it or hate it?