Choosing Seersucker Clothes for Travel

Who’s heard of a “seersucker suit” and wondered what in the world it was? And have you thought to add one to your travel wardrobe?

What is Seersucker?

The dictionary defines seersucker as “a lightweight fabric with a crimped or puckered surface” and suggests it can be used in a sentence like “a colorful seersucker summer jacket”.

Seersucker is an all-cotton fabric. Some of the threads are bunched together as it is woven, making the fabric wrinkle in places. This lifts the fabric off your skin and allows air to circulate, which is why seersucker is so cool to wear. Traditionally seersucker is made with stripes or checks, often in blue and white, but also in other colors. The color is usually flat, and the white is puckered.

It has a long history, originating in India. The British picked it up there and wore it in their hot overseas colonies. In the USA, it was popular in the hot southern states – and was even used for the baggy pants and rucksacks of the Confederate troops. The distinctive striped uniforms of butchers, train drivers, the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in the Second World War and even the candy-striped uniforms of volunteer nurses were made from seersucker.

It was originally worn by poor people as it was cheap but durable, but from the 1920s it became popular with university students; there are many pictures of university professors with full seersucker suits and large red bowties! Big brands like Macy’s and Sears carried seersucker lines. We’ve all seen pictures of 1920’s salesmen in seersucker suits!

Seersucker has made a bit of a comeback in the USA since 2010.

We are seeing double-breasted jackets and not just the traditional two button blazer. Cuts have become narrower. “Seersucker Social” events have people wearing vintage clothing and riding vintage bikes!

Casual clothes for women include pants, skirts, dresses and even bikinis in seersucker.

How is Seersucker made?

To weave most fabrics the yarn is threaded up and down, lengthwise, and held in tension on a frame or loom. This is called the warp yarn. Weft (or woof) yarn is threaded across the warp yarn in an over-and-under method to create the fabric and patterns.

For seersucker, separate warps (ie lengthwise yarns) are used, next to each other. One has slack tension on the loom and the next has a higher tension.

As the weft is threaded through the slack warp it creates the plain stripe; when it is threaded through the tighter tension, it creates the puckered stripe.

The width of the stripe is determined by the number of threads for each warp. Usually, the tighter tension warp is in white yarn and the colored yarn is for the slack tension.

Why would you want to own a Seersucker garment?

If you’re traveling to a hot place and want something easy, then seersucker might be for you. Other than being cool, it requires absolutely no ironing.

Wash it, shake it out, air dry it – and wear it again!

Pack it in a backpack or a suitcase, travel in it, team it with more tailored items – it always looks good.

It was originally designed as workwear, so it’s quite tough. If your seersucker garment is lined, though, it’s better to dry clean it.

Different fabrics wash differently, and you don’t want to add extra puckering to your garment.

A seersucker jacket is almost a must-have for all travelers, male and female. There are some places that require you to wear a jacket. Somehow a jacket dresses up even the most casual jeans, dress or knit top.

Have a look at great photos of some famous people wearing seersucker – Ronald Reagan, Frank Sinatra, James Coburn, Wes Anderson, a young Dustin Hoffman, Jamie Foxx. They made me smile because seersucker somehow looks like a fun garment rather a serious one.

Jamie Foxx’s jacket has one sleeve in purple and white, the other in green and white; one front panel is red and white and the other blue and white; this is teamed with a pink shirt, black bowtie, a gold bracelet and dark glasses. This can only be a joke, right? So, why does he look so trendy then?

How can you wear Seersucker and look trendy?

The biggest trick is never to wear a seersucker suit as a suit. Lose the big bowtie, and, worse, your seersucker ties

Wear the jacket with a cotton button-down shirt and slim-cut chinos, or wear the pants with a plain polo sweater. The seersucker itself must fit well. If it’s baggy you’ll look like that 1920’s salesman. If it’s too tight it loses its relaxed look.

Be careful of the length of the jacket, especially if you are tall – you don’t want to look like a column with vertical stripes. Wear smart shoes – or roll up the legs of the pants and wear them with sneakers or sandals. If you’re wearing seersucker shorts, wash them a few times so that they are soft and relaxed.

Try to find very narrow stripes that almost fade into a solid color. There are also new color combinations like black and navy, or combinations of olive shades rather than the traditional white and blue.

Seersucker accessories like caps, or handkerchiefs for the top pocket of your formal wool jacket, can be fun. Just make sure that you buy good quality so they hold their shape.

Who would have known that there was so much to know about seersucker suits? And who would have thought that it might be such a good option for you when next you travel?

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