In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Kevin D. Williamson writes:
“In June, Washington saw a catastrophic failure in bipartisanship: I mean, of course, the near-extinction of Seersucker Day in the Senate. There are around 100 senators, I am told, but only nine participated in the annual event, including the bipartisan co-chairs.”
Nine out of 100, or 9%, is a pretty low number. To put it in perspective, this year from a pool of 7,856 applicants, the acceptance rate for the Early Action program at Yale University was 9.02%, the lowest in history.
Seersucker Thursday is an annual tradition in which United States Senators wear seersucker on National Seersucker Day in the month of June. The tradition began nearly 30 years ago.
Does the waning popularity of Seersucker Thursday parallel the decline and fall of American civilization? Perhaps. But the optimistic traditionalist can only hope that like all good things which have fallen out of fashion – like polite manners, proper etiquette, and civil discourse – this good thing is poised to make a comeback.
I don’t know why more senators aren’t wearing seersucker on Seersucker Day. I would hope they could to join together in some sartorial levity (if in nothing else) but maybe seersucker feels too weightless and airy for the current heaviness of our politics.
We’re having quite a heatwave in the PNW this weekend. I’m actually wearing shorts, which I seldom do. But I’m now inspired to switch to my seersucker trousers. Their virtue as a versatile garment is largely unsung. Seersucker pants pair wonderfully with almost anything seasonal.
Good point about the current heaviness of our times vs. the weightlessness of seersucker. Quite the contrast.
Seersucker shorts look smashing on a sailboat. The nautical blue-and-white combination is always stylish.
Mr. Longcore:
Congratulations on taking the helm of Ivy Style. I recently read The Philosophy of Style, by Christian Chensvold, the former proprietor of the Ivy Style site, which was very good. I suggest interviewing Mr. Chensvold, with whom I am personally acquainted, in the style of the Kenton Nelson interview previously published on the site. It should be of interest to your readers.
Please let me know if that would be of interest.
https://www.ivy-style.com/?s=michael+lotus
Michael,
Thank you for the warm welcome. I was delighted to discover The Philosophy of Style while visiting J. Press. I would be pleased to interview Christian Chensvold. Excellent idea.
Cheers,
Matthew
Today’s politicians are style-less instead of stylish. They’re petrified their clothes will somehow offend somebody, so they revert to a sterile, middle-of-the-road look. Dull clothes for dull minds.
“Decline and fall of American civilization”?
Matthew, I’m already starting to feel my website could not have fallen into better hands!
; )
C.
Even Diane Feinstein used to participate, Democrat from San Francisco. Lovely tradition that needs to stay alive. I thought a lot of staffers participated this year but I could be wrong.
Nice post, Matthew. And good to see your name here, Christian. I donned seersucker for Seersucker Day, and again today, simply because it is so blasted hot here this week. But then, I am usually in a seersucker suit or sport coat this time of year.
Looking forward to more great Ivy Style posts.
I plan to kick off our fall orientation week in August, and the start of classes a week later, with a seersucker suit and a vintage Madras necktie. Quite outre for Mid-Michigan.
Kind Regards,
H-U
Nice blog here Also your site loads up very fast What host are you using Can I get your affiliate link to your host I wish my site loaded up as quickly as yours lol
It’s a shame, really. Wearing my seersucker pants a few days late in protest to the Senate’s indifference!
I think whiskeydent nailed it. Most politicians wear boring and middle of the road attire not to draw attention or standout. Need more in the vein of Daniel Patrick Moynihan. As a Texas resident, seersucker gets worn multiple times per week as I find no fabric more comfortable. Seersucker also generates more positive comments from others than any other item of clothing or accessory with only knit tie being a distant second. Stay cool out there.
Where in Texas? I’m in Austin. I hope Beryl didn’t pay you a visit this morning.
I am in FW. No visit from Beryl, thankfully.
You are right about seersucker generating positive comments, NaturalShoulder. On Sunday, my ancient blue and white version prompted a complete stranger to stop me at the grocery store and tell me that I was “beautiful.” Today’s tan and white suit elicited, “You look fabulous,” from a woman at the office. Believe me, the seersucker suits earned the praise, and not the wearer.
Charlottesville, I find striped shirts gander the most attention from the fairer sex. My MTM striped blue/white OCBD is probably one of my most complimented items in my wardrobe. Glad to hear your suit received positive feedback.
Cheers, MA
I’m in Houston. Recovering from Beryl. 108 + degrees with heat index. If I needed to wear a tie daily, I’d wear a seersucker suit once a week, from May through September. The question is blue or grey?
One would think senators would be excited to use this opportunity to wear something a bit more interesting than the generic dark blue suit, but apparently, the vast majority want to wear dark blue suits 365 days a year. Even gray is a rarely seen color in the Congress nowadays. I think Clinton was the last president to wear gray suits relatively regularly. The one time Obama dared to wear a tan suit in the heat of summer, he was roasted by critics for it.
IT, I agree. See my comment below.
So glad to see Christian posting here again!
I surrendered seersucker pants, jackets, and suits (gifts to friends and family members) several years ago, nowadays much preferring subtle Irish linens (three cheers for Baird McNutt/Hanna) of hopsack for summer blazers and the extraordinary “Glenariff” quality for suits, but admittedly shouted a polite, mainline protestant “Halleulujah” upon discovering the Gitman Bros. batch(over)dyed fabric. Unique. A July/August staple.
>shouted a polite, mainline protestant “Halleulujah”
Ivy Style, come for the style, stay for the wise cracks.
Cheers,
Mackerel Snapping Papist
It’s a shame that this tradition is dying! Being comfortable and well-dressed in the Washington heat is not a political issue.
When I was involved in politics, the television producers or friendly reporters would tell you what colors to wear and not wear.
Reminds me of Joseph Haspel’s seersucker swim.
https://www.ivy-style.com/bathing-suit-joseph-haspel-goes-swimming-in-seersucker-1946.html
Being retired and a bit of a hermit, I very seldom have occasion to wear sportcoats or suits, but my go-to summer shirts are my dozen or so LLBean seersuckers.
I read that article in the WSJ – it was very interesting. I took my family out to dinner in downtown Philly a few weeks ago on a hot summer night to celebrate my younger son’s HS graduation and wore a seersucker jacket. Perfect night for it. My older son is in college and enjoys dressing up for his fraternity events, but both my boys were curious about the fabric. I realized I hadn’t worn it out since before the pandemic and have done a disservice as a role model to both of them. I think my older son may now be shopping for a seersucker jacket for his early fall and late spring formals, so perhaps I am redeemed.
My seersucker suit is in heavy rotation this summer. It’s a cloth that just makes me happy everytime I wear it.
I wore my seersucker suit yesterday to court and the sheriff’s deputy said I look like Matlock.
A lot of preppy clothes can seem “bourgeois boring” (borrowed phrase). More country club than jazz club. Seersucker suits/jackets, if ill-fitting, can tend in this anemic direction.
I recall seeing a photo of Miles Davis wearing a narrow-and-sloped shouldered seersucker jacket while lifting his trumpet. Sunglasses and band collar shirt — absolutely, totally, eternally cool. This, in addition pictures of Steve McQueen sporting an equally natural shouldered rendering, sold me on the tastefulness. But the wide-shouldered, pleated, way-too-long suits that most male members of Congress have worn in celebration of seersucker day? Hmm. No.
Miles Davis is proof that seersucker can be cool in both senses of the word.
I much prefer grey over blue. A lightweight, light grey suit is way more versatile than blue, wears very cool, and works with any shade of brown shoes.
Yes to this. Another favorite is gray pincord, which, from a foot away and further, appears (as a) solid. Conservative, tasteful — remarkably useful for the workplace in the July.
Here WFB Jr.’s jacket looks to be charcoal gray or grayish navy —
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alGmWLPdD7M
A salute to an era when legislators not only pretended, but really tried, to get along. That’s as refreshing as the cloth itself. Welcome, Matthew, and Christian, so wonderful to see you commenting. Sarah, ditto. If you all get interesting comments wearing the blessed cloth in the East and South, imagine wearing seersucker in Colorado, the home of office denim, wedding denim, and funeral denim, not to mention church-going athleisure.
Memories of seersucker.
My father and Josh Tonkel, who was chief at Haspel at that time, decided they should make seersucker jackets with short sleeves to allow the proper amount of sleeve to show when one wore a short sleeve shirt with one’s jacket. The marketing was a complete flop; but Josh and my dad kept enough cloth so they could change the sleeves the following season.
Natural Shoulder, who would have thought there were two followers in FW?
The challenge, encountered by previous publishers (Christian, JB) is how to synergistically merge the way-back-when, deep-down roots of this style (Brooks’ appropriations of British Georgian/Victorian clothing) with the amendments made by American college students that rendered it sporty and relaxed — cool. Seersucker is one of those quintessentially Americana-ish fabrics that, when natural shouldered and softy tailored, represents the best of/about this style. A structured, padded, fully lined seersucker suit looks both weird and terrible (hence the chastisement of D.C. pols’ sartorial inclinations). All Ivy-ish cloth, including flannel, hopsacks, madras, linen, moleskin, tweeds, and the bolder twills, are at their sporty best when wrinkled, creased, and made according to American Soft Tailoring (hereafter ‘AST’) specs. Padding, interlinings, and stiff construction be damned.
On a very hot day in about 1980 I wore a seersucker suit and bit loafers to work at a very conservative bank that shall remain nameless. One of my colleagues, real bumpkin (“Roll Tide”), accused me of wearing my pajamas and bedroom slippers. I was more amused than annoyed.
Hilarious! Thank you for sharing. Reminds me of the reaction one sometimes gets to Nantucket Red. “Wow! Pink pants?” I gently respond, “No, salmon actually.” The look of utter bewilderment is amusing.
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