The History of Seersucker Suits
Seersucker is a lightweight fabric used widely in summer fashions. Invented in India, its name is derived from the Hindi word "Shiroshekar" which means "milk and sugar," and describes the seersuckers dual-textured nature: half smooth like milk, and half rough like sugar. Does this Spark an idea?
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The First Seersucker Suit
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New Orleans suitmaker Joseph Haspel created the first classic seersucker suit in 1909. Although initially meant to have working-class appeal because of its low cost, the look quickly became popular with stylish southern gentleman from preppies to politicians. The suits lost a bit of their summer staple appeal in the 1950s when the emergence air conditioning made dressing for the weather less of a factor.
Seersucker Suit Thursday
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Seersucker suits got a major public relations boost in 1996 when Mississippi Senator Trent Lott popularized "Seersucker Suit Thursday" in the Senate. Once a year in mid-June, senators, mostly of the southern Republican variety, cloak themselves in the wrinkly fabric to bond with one another and harken back to a bygone era. Seersucker Thursday isn't entirely an Old Boy's Club ritual, however. In 2004 women got involved at the urging of Democrat Dianne Feinstein, who sent her fellow female senators seersucker suits as gifts. According to the U.S. Senate website, the following year 11 of 14 of the Senate women participated in the annual rite of summer.
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Seersucker Suits in Pop Culture
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The seersucker suit is a frequent presence in popular culture and evokes images ranging from simple and wholesome to New Wave preppy. Gregory Peck wore a seersucker suit as small town lawyer Atticus Finch in the 1962 film "To Kill a Mockingbird." Wealthy southern patriarch Big Daddy wore one in Tennessee Williams' play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." And, according to the New York Daily News website, rap artist Sean "Puffy" Combs wore a seersucker suit to the Kentucky Derby in 2002.
Modern Seersucker
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In the 2000s, seersucker fabric is still on trend. In addition to the traditional suit still sold by the Haspel company, retailers from Brooks Brothers to J. Crew offer clothes made of seersucker -- not just suits but shorts, swimsuits, vests, skirts and dresses.
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