Seersucker – do you know what that is? Well, I do. And here is the thing, I am fairly sure that a knowledge of seersucker is not in everyone’s brain and my knowledge in this area says something about me. I am just not sure if it is a positive thing.
I received an email today from Chadwicks of Boston about some classic seersucker items they were featuring. It has been awhile since I have heard seersucker mentioned anywhere and I cannot say I have ever received an email about it. Seersucker just isn’t mainstream enough for that. Not that it isn’t out there peppered throughout the storefronts of America, you just may not know it when you see it.
Seersucker is a thin cotton fabric that is puckered and is incredibly lightweight. It is a classic fabric for spring and summer clothing. You will see it used most liberally for kids wear, but you can also find pieces here and there for adults. If you have ever worn seersucker you appreciate its allure in regard to comfort. Seersucker is typically striped or checkered which has a way of reducing its fashion appeal to some folks, but if you live in a hot and humid place you can bet you will find reasons to overlook any fashion failings seersucker has. When I think seersucker, I think about the capri slacks that grandmas wear. And when I say grandmas, I mean the grandmas that in my mind are far older than me. They say cotton is the fabric of our lives, but seersucker is the fabric of grandmas’ lives.
But wouldn’t you know, when I looked at the Chadwick’s ad and saw the crop pants I lingered and I rationalized. I thought, those aren’t grandma pants…seersucker is becoming cool and hip. It was a long, telling moment. Seersucker’s draw almost had me.
I know what this means. I know that I am just a hop, skip, and a jump from being the grandma in seersucker that shapes someone else’s imprint of the fabric. It is a sad reality of the cycle of life – you start in cotton (as in diapers) and you end in cotton (as in seersucker). What’s next – a condo in Florida with some pink plastic flamingos on the lawn? 😉
Day one thousand three hundred and ninety of the new forty – obla di obla da
Ms. C
THE NEW FORTY 
Seersucker is comfortable — when we’re old enough to put fashion forward in reverse, we wear seersucker. Vertical lines, here I come!
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Ms. C, I Love seersucker! MY ex and I used to call is “sapsucker,” after the bird. We have a beautiful white duvet cover and some pillow shams. We got them at Nordstrom’s back in the early 90s.
I have a pair of blue and white pinstripe sapsucker shorts I bought at Target a few years back – or maybe it was Ross. And only today it got hot enough in the geological frying pan of Concord, CA to wear them. If it stays this hot, I’ll wear them on the weekend, for you, Ms. C.
YOU’re gonna look fine, be prime for dancin’
YOU’re gonna slip and glide along the trembling plane
Your diamond hands will be stacked with roses
And wind and cars and people of the past
Friday night and the lights are low
looking out for a place to go
Where they play the right music, getting in the swing
You come in to look for a king
The sun is up, the sky is blue
It’s beautiful and so are you
Dear Prudence, won’t you come out to play?
I see seersucker all these songs. Give in – grab some sapsucker! And get some for Cheyenne too. Mike … maybe not. Ask first, maybe a button front shirt. YOU, too, Katherine. You know Prudence is wearing it. Give Spring a miss and run head first into Summer!
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