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Monday, 15th Jul 2024Get To Know Seersucker – The Timeless Suit For Your Summer SeasonDespite a history stretching back centuries, the seersucker is your perfect suit for this summer. Read our guide to this artfully crumpled sartorial titan. “Create myself down south / Impress all the women / Pretend I'm Samuel Clemens / Wear and white linens.”
These lines, sung by the great American songwriter and chronicler Tom Petty in his song ‘Deep South’, consecrated the immortal seersucker suit in verse. Summer is the season when this centuriesold fabric comes to the fore: when the limpid stripes of a twined with are the talk of every garden party, outdoors opera, or yachting voyage.
The benefits of the seersucker are as storied as its origins – so let’s take a peek at the suit’s history and fabric detailing, then the finest ways to make this summer staple sing.
Seersucker: Origin story
Originating in India, the cotton seersucker suit became popular with 19thcentury British settlers due to its airy disposition for those working in stifling climes. It migrated to the United States where it assumed popularity amongst blue collar workers – particularly those in the sweltering Deep South – until a haberdasher from New Orleans names Joseph Haspel repurposed it as a businessmen’s essential in 190By the 1920s, students from Princeton and other Ivy League institutions had popularized the seersucker design – most famously its pale
Some famous patrons then amplified it to the masses. Notably the Duke of Windsor during the 1940s, then Gregory Peck – the latter of whom donned a threepiece seersucker in his portrayal of Atticus Finch for 1962’s To Kill A Mockingbird. The rest? Put simply, is sartorial history.
Seersucker: What’s in a name? Seersucker itself is an anglicised version of the Persian words ‘shiroshaker’: meaning ‘milk and sugar’. This is in recognition of the suit’s cotton composition: soft like milk, but crumpled like mounds of sugar. This not only makes it an airier option for broiling days, but also the simplest choice when travelling to a summer nuptials or beachside bolthole. Simply pop a seersucker jacket and seersucker pants into your travelling attaché and they will emerge virtually readytowear. Those rushed calls to a hotel valet or housekeeper can thus become burdens of the past.
Seersucker jackets and pants: Two ‘rights’ do not make a ‘wrong’ You don’t necessarily have to wear the seersucker pants and jackets in partnership. Either the beige or the blue would pair admirably with some Nevertheless, they scale the sartorial heights when working in lockstep.
You could opt for the vintage and know that you are in a distinguished lineage of seersucker habitués. Prefer something that’s a little more subtle – yet reassuringly eyecatching? The will traverse all the grandest summer commitments. Just be mindful to not spill a postdinner Americano down your breeches…
Suit up with and
Seersucker suits: accessories and accoutrements The , weaved from the most coveted Toquilla straw from Ecuador, is the last word in summer seersucker accessories – combine with a blue striped suit for the definitive pairing. Elsewhere? Surely a bold patterned tie and matching pocket square – we love this effort with its intricate, summery detailing. Whilst we would gladly die on the hill of dressing for dinner, this beige striped suit also lends itself to dressing down: why not try with a and weave seamlessly from morning to sundown.
The seersucker is a staple of any serious summer wardrobe. Pop your sandals on and stroll through our range of , and perhaps plump for an airy or the coolest pair of .
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Summer is for special occasions. Let’s assess the proper sartorial options – from the seersucker suit, to the cotton and linen suit, to a quintessential panama hat. “Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” So spake Henry James, lauded scribe, and there’s surely no better use for a balmy afternoon than throwing on one’s favorite sartorial garbs and heading to a summer occasion – perhaps fit for royalty. Whether you’ve got the grand nuptials of a treasured niece, or a strawberries and creamstuffed afternoon strolling Wimbledon’s outer courts, we’ve knocked domes to bring you every feasible option: from an interminably dashing , to a breezy , to accessories like the immortal . The sunscreen, however? That’s up to you… Simply iconic in the seersucker suit The seersucker suit has its etymological roots in the Persian phrase “shir eu shakar” – translating loosely as “milk and sugar” in homage to its smoothyetrumpled design. It gained sartorial notoriety in the 1930s as an Ivy College standard and is now a fitting outfit for any grand summer fete. With a 100% seersucker cotton outer and the classic puckered weave helped to absorb heat from the body, you’ll feel light as air and cool as the shaved ice in your first GT. Available in or hue – to match the sky. Keeping cool in the cotton and linen suit Most summer occasions befit just a smidgen of informality at the prospect – not always fulfilled – of sunshine. The cotton and linen suit is the perfect choice, with its adroitness at dressing up or down. Pair the blue twopiece with an open for an afternoon on the lawns, or sharpen up with tie and pocket square if you’re heading to the church. The stone beige option is the last word for those who want to turn heads – a perfect ensemble with the and Permanent style in Panama hats The panama hat has a storied past dating back to 17thcentury Ecuador. Fittingly, all those in the Peter Christian range are weaved from premiumgrade Paja Toquilla straw, offering the perfect melange of shade and style for your scalp. The is the ideal option for a day at Lord’s, basking in the clunk of leather on willow, its wide brim giving the ultimate sun protection. For those who like their monocolor outfits – guilty – the blue panama will be an attentiongrabbing compadre for the We like smart shorts. You like smart shorts. A man cannot survive on suits alone, especially under the midsummer sun’s blaze. These smart dress shorts come in a medley of hues – from seasonal allrounder , to effortlessly , to the pinkish for those of a nattier disposition. Pair with this for a livelier soiree, where the spritz’s fly faster than the bonmots. Feeling brave? Smarten up with a for the ultimate lowkey, highstakes look that can traverse day and night – provided the weather allows, of course. Forever preppy in the polo shirt The item is indelibly linked with Wimbledon and Fred Perry – the only British tournament victor for nearly a century. Therefore – presuming you haven’t lent on your associates for a seat in the Royal Box, in which case we would avert you to the – there’s no better environment for a box fresh polo shirt. Try the with its subtle striped detailing and bespoke Peter Christian duelling hares. Up the preppiness by pairing with a pair of lightweight and – perfect for the yacht or dockside. Stay for one last summer dance in the short sleeve shirt A considered choice of short sleeve shirt will elevate your summer occasion outfit, whatever the celebration. The subtle lines of the will dreamily pair with the – a cross between jeans and chinos, perfect for a chillier evening where the wind whips straight off the hills. The is manna for the goodliving man who can wilt in the heat, especially when tucked underneath a and levelled up with a superior Take a sundappled perambulation through our trove of summer sartorial treats – from the iconic to the allrounder , and our raft of summer accoutrements including the
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