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Seersucker stands the test 
of time , and temperature

August 20, 2010

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Done right, the seersucker suit is the quintessential model of Southern sophistication.

Done wrong, or in the wrong setting, and you look like a displaced member of a barbershop quartet.

Preppy, ivy-league looks are hot this summer. The lean seersucker suit and well-tailored seersucker separates fit in perfectly with the iconic American sportswear look.

Women's sportswear designers have turned a spot-light on seersucker this season, even down to the seersucker one- and two-piece bathing suits offered by J.Crew.

"It's a hugely important fabric for summer wear," said Bruce Julian of Bruce Julian Clothiers in Charlotte, N.C.'s Arboretum shopping center.

"One of the best things about it is that it's got an inherent wrinkle to it. As long as you've got a crease in the trousers — even an OK one — you're good," Julian says. "That's why it's always been such a popular suit in the South, because it doesn't show wrinkles."

Seersucker is a good wardrobe investment piece because it makes an appearance every year, says Sarah Collins , associate chairwoman of fashion for the Atlanta campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design .

"It's something you'll see every spring and summer, and it won't date itself," Collins says. "A nice pencil skirt in seersucker or a somewhat-fitted jacket will probably last a long time."

Seersucker is woven with a combination of slack and tight threads, giving it a puckered, rippled effect that holds it away from the body, allowing air to circulate and the body to cool.

The fabric has origins in 18th-century India . The name was derived from the Persian compound "shirushakar," which translates to "milk and sugar," presumably to describe the fabric's texture.

Larry Hayes of Weddington, N.C. , says he'll never forget catching his first glimpse of a man wearing a seersucker suit when he moved from New York to Maryland about 20 years ago.

Now, he has two suits and a jacket — all in blue and white stripe — and the comments he gets when wearing them with his bow tie and white buckskin shoes are so complimentary, his 17-year-old son, Tyler, asked for a suit last year.

"When I put that suit on, I feel like a Southern gentleman," Hayes says.

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The seersucker suit was born in the early 1900s when a New Orleans tailor, Joseph Haspel , took the cloth normally used for laborers' overalls and used it for high-end business wear.

"He knew it was going to be functional as well as fashionable," said Haspel's great granddaughter, Laurie Haspel Aronson , president of the 100-year-old Haspel clothing line in Baton Rouge, La.

To popularize the suits, Haspel began selling them to young, up-and-coming Ivy League students, Aronson says. They loved the suits' look and comfort, and when they took them back to campus, the look caught on.

In 1946, Haspel created a media buzz during a fashion trade show by wading into the Atlantic Ocean wearing one of his trademark blue and white seersucker suits. As reporters watched, he hung the suit up to dry, then put it on for a cocktail party that evening.

The "wash and wear" suit was born.

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Chockey Kassem , owner of Chockey's Men's Designer Fashions in Raleigh , says it's OK not to go full dandy if you're wary of the head-to-toe seersucker look.

"It becomes less attorney-looking when you break it down and wear the pants by themselves with a nice linen shirt," Kassem says. Seersucker pieces in nontraditional colors like green or pink also change the look, he says.

Lawyer Geoff Simmons , a longtime Chockey's shopper, strives to distinguish himself from the other seersucker-wearing lawyers. The natty dresser, who will only pull out seersucker when it's hotter than 90 degrees, says he moved from wearing his light blue seersucker when the color became too prevalent among his peers, then did the same when the gray became popular. On this day, he has on a tan seersucker suit, paired with Cole Haan bucks with a pointed rather than a rounded toe, and a straw-hat.

"I believe a lawyer should wear a dark suit whenever possible, but when it's hot and you have to have a jacket on, it's the most comfortable suit you can have," he says.

This season, clothiers are offering tea-stained seersucker pieces that soften the look. For women, there are even more choices with labels like Spiegel offering stretch, body-conforming seersucker in everything from walking shorts to duster jackets.

Charlotte lawyer Turner Herbert says seersucker has gone so mainstream across the country that he no longer turns heads when wearing it on business trips to cities such as Chicago or New York .

"When I traveled to other offices ... I used to feel I was being stereotyped as a Southern lawyer," says Herbert, 34. "Now you're just as likely to see it in New York as Birmingham."

Some fashion experts, however, disagree.

"You won't be perceived as a legitimate businessman going into a New York office with your navy blazer and cotton khaki pants," says Richard Pattison of the Charlotte men's clothier Taylor, Richards & Conger. "Seersucker is lumped in the same category. ... (But) it's phenomenal for an informal business event at the lake, or if you're going to Charleston for the weekend and you have to dress up for a wedding."

Let others debate that. Raleigh lobbyist Mark Ezzell , once a reluctant suit wearer, bought his first seersucker suit two months ago. He is now fully on board, saying seersucker should be in every Southern man's wardrobe.

"It's the fabric of the gods," he says.

 



Associated Press