# Seersucker after dark?



## filfoster (Aug 23, 2011)

I have some notion that seersucker suits/jackets are day wear and not really suitable for evening wear. Is there some consensus about this?


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## filfoster (Aug 23, 2011)

You all wear seersucker to evening events in the summer? (Look, he's posting to himself again. Children, don't stare.)


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## TweedyDon (Aug 31, 2007)

Is that you, jamie-marsters? 

I agree, though--seersucker only when the sun is shining!


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## straw sandals (Apr 14, 2010)

I'm sure that someone is more qualified to answer this, but I've always heard that seersucker is a daytime fabric. That said, seersucker seems to inspire a lot of tongue clucking and judgement. A quick Internet search will show that there are "rules" dictating the season in which to wear it, the time of day, the kinds of shoes, tie, and headgear one can or cannot wear appropriately with it. Some of these rules seem to drift towards the arcane; a southern friend of mine once told me that he was ashamed to have gone to a daytime summer wedding wearing seersucker only to find that the groom was wearing a linen suit. The social "gaffe" in this setting was that he had overdressed (seersucker being more formal than linen).

My point is that seersucker after dark may be slightly outside the strictest "rules" of appropriate wear, but don't worry overmuch. The only ones clucking their tongues will be men's fashion nerds, and we're generally a harmless lot. You'll look great.


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

For myself, if an event starts in the daytime and continues into the evening, I would wear seersucker. However, if it's strictly an evening affair, I wouldn't.

Again, that's just me.

As for that wedding example above, it's always better to be overdressed than underdressed, and I'm not sure that I agree with the notion of seersucker being "more formal" than linen. Depending on cut, color, and style, a linen suit will almost always appear more elegant than a seersucker suit. At least, until you sit down in it and it gets all wrinkled.


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## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

I agree with Topsider, and I would never apologize for wearing seersucker to a wedding, which I have done on several occasions. If the groom can't at least match seersucker in terms of formality, he needs to re-think his choice in clothing.


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## straw sandals (Apr 14, 2010)

Ha! I didn't mean to hijack the thread with a discussion of seersucker vs. linen at a summer country club wedding.

My point is that there are many "rules" for wearing seersucker, but we need not take them all so very seriously.

In fact, I agree with Topsider; I'd personally wear seersucker to an event that starts while the sun is shining and continues through the evening. On the other hand, I wouldn't be shocked to see seersucker at an evening affair on a hot summer's night. I think that there's a degree of flexibility!


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

straw sandals said:


> My point is that there are many "rules" for wearing seersucker, but we need not take them all so very seriously.


My recommendation is to always follow the rules until you know for certain that you can get away with breaking them.

This is harder than you might think.


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## Brooksfan (Jan 25, 2005)

Did you ever hear of Darren McGaven aka Carl Kolchak aka The Night Stalker? I don't think he changed outfits at nightfall...


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

Brooksfan said:


> Did you ever hear of Darren McGaven aka Carl Kolchak aka The Night Stalker? I don't think he changed outfits at nightfall...


As the saying goes, no man is completely useless. He can always serve as a bad example.


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## Titus_A (Jun 23, 2010)

I am perfectly willing to express my empathy for the gentleman who wore a seersucker suit to a linen wedding, especially if the linen suits in question were light colored. Seersucker serves its wearer well even in casual settings, but it is indisputably summer business attire: light colored linens express a certain insouciance that place them more at home at garden parties than courtrooms or weddings. It is, one must admit, a very fine distinction in the context, but I am far from willing to gainsay the man's judgment in the matter.

That aside, of course seersucker is traditionally daytime wear. All suits other than formal wear are traditionally day wear. Today, should a man put on seersucker solely for the purpose of attending an event beginning after six post meridian? I should say not: certainly not if the event is to be indoors. Out of doors, if the sun is still up at the time the event begins, one might make an exception. A gentleman, then, will not don his seersucker for the Easter Vigil, although he might be forgiven if he wears it to the Sunset Symphony, or to enjoy an early patio supper. Of course, in Cincinnati, who knows if a gentleman wears seersucker at all?



> My point is that there are many "rules" for wearing seersucker, but we need not take them all so very seriously.


Permit me to demur: the gentleman from Connecticut may take seriously, or mock, what he wills. Those of us who live---not merely reside in the transitory fashion so common today, but actually are at home---in the South are fully justified in regarding sartorial rules governing seersucker as wholly serious. One does not wear seersucker, or other white clothes, before Easter. One obviously does not wear a felt hat with a seersucker suit. One puts his seersucker away for the winter after Labor Day. One respects the customs of his forbears, and refrains from running around the country or the internet like an iconoclast. At least, that is how one conducts himself here; I have the liberty of not needing to concern myself with what the good citizens of Connecticut do with their time or their clothes, as I am at a loss to conceive of why I should ever have to travel there.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Brooksfan said:


> Did you ever hear of Darren McGaven aka Carl Kolchak aka The Night Stalker? I don't think he changed outfits at nightfall...


That's because not only does seersucker look sharp and feel comfortable, it repels vampires as well!!


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## filfoster (Aug 23, 2011)

I was not a regular viewer but my recollection is that Mr. McGaven managed to make his seersucker jacket (suit?) look like 24/7 wear: pretty rumpled.


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

Titus_A said:


> Of course, in Cincinnati, who knows if a gentleman wears seersucker at all?


Cincinnati is perilously close to Kentucky.


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## filfoster (Aug 23, 2011)

TitusA writes: *"Of course, in Cincinnati, who knows if a gentleman wears seersucker at all?"
*I am considering a Hardwick seersucker suit but that purchase will, alas, leave your question unanswered.


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## filfoster (Aug 23, 2011)

Topsider said:


> Cincinnati is perilously close to Kentucky.


I live in Kentucky, just accross the river, and commute to work here. My older daughter is a Wildcat alumna, and employed by that venerable NBA farm system adjunct.


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

I'm not sure why Titus is channeling Foghorn Leghorn at the moment, but I'm grateful that he doesn't always write that way. I had to look up the word "gainsay."


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## filfoster (Aug 23, 2011)

Topsider said:


> I'm not sure why Titus is channeling Foghorn Leghorn at the moment, but I'm grateful that he doesn't always write that way. I had to look up the word "gainsay."


Pray vouchsafe what you kenned, and faretheewell.


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## arkirshner (May 10, 2005)

Gentlemen:



Great thread. You have caused me to take an extended coffee break enjoying your wit. Time well spent. May I ask, How warm does it have to get before the seersucker gets worn?


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

arkirshner said:


> How warm does it have to get before the seersucker gets worn?


You can start wearing seersucker after Easter. It's pretty popular at the Kentucky Derby. Some folks adhere to the Memorial Day through Labor Day timeframe, as with other summer fabrics.


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## filfoster (Aug 23, 2011)

arkirshner said:


> Gentlemen:
> 
> Great thread. You have caused me to take an extended coffee break enjoying your wit. Time well spent. May I ask, How warm does it have to get before the seersucker gets worn?


My take so far was that the calendar as much as the thermometer and sundial governed the wearing of this perplexing fabric.


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## arkirshner (May 10, 2005)

I apologize for my ambiguity. I am asking about temperature, not in the context of a rule, but at what temperature do you begin to wear yours?


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## 12345Michael54321 (Mar 6, 2008)

I prefer not to wear seersucker, or light colored shoes, or tan suits, or any number of other items, after dark. But "after dark" should probably be defined fairly broadly.

For instance, if I'm going out to dinner or a concert at 7PM, I probably won't treat it as "daytime dress," even if it's August, and the sun won't go down until 9:30PM.

Similarly, it may get dark at 4:15PM in winter, but I just find it hard to think of 4:15PM as nighttime.

And, of course, sometimes things do extend from day, into night. (Relatively few social or business affairs extend from night, into day.)

If I do find myself dressed other than ideally for the time of day - perhaps because things stretched out longer than I'd anticipated - I think the key is to remain calm and to be comfortable in whatever it is I'm wearing. Usually, the average person won't think it's a huge deal that I'm wearing a seersucker suit into the evening, or if my shoes are tan when they should more properly be black. What the average person will notice is uneasiness on my part, if I get all upset over what I'm wearing.
-- 
Michael


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## 12345Michael54321 (Mar 6, 2008)

arkirshner said:


> I apologize for my ambiguity. I am asking about temperature, not in the context of a rule, but at what temperature do you begin to wear yours?


It's not entirely about temperature. The season begins when the cherry blossoms reach their peak bloom, in DC. It ends when the local tv stations stop running PSAs reminding me that school is back in session so I should watch out for school buses dropping off children.

'Course, if it's raining and the daytime temperature is expected to remain mostly in the 50s, I won't likely wear a seersucker suit, even if it's summertime.
-- 
Michael


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## filfoster (Aug 23, 2011)

arkirshner said:


> I apologize for my ambiguity. I am asking about temperature, not in the context of a rule, but at what temperature do you begin to wear yours?


I intend to wear mine on very hot days (80's and hotter), when a jacket is required (Derby party, afternoon cocktail party), but I don't feel like wearing the BB navy blazer.


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## Youthful Repp-robate (Sep 26, 2011)

arkirshner said:


> I apologize for my ambiguity. I am asking about temperature, not in the context of a rule, but at what temperature do you begin to wear yours?


I haven't worn my pincord suit outside yet (bought it a month ago, bringing it out this weekend), but based on wearing around the house, I wouldn't start until it was closer to 70 than 60. I run a bit cold, though, and I live in a windy place. It feels like it would be comfortable all the way up until the mid-80s.


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## Pleasant McIvor (Apr 14, 2008)

The "rules" aren't arcane. Seersucker is a functional fabric. I wear seersucker when it's warm enough to make my other suits uncomfortable. If it's cooler than that and you wear seersucker, you're trying too hard. As for the Easter rule, bright clothing is traditionally unacceptable during Lent. Then it's good penance to wear wool and sweat on your walk to church.

As long as the party starts before 6, seersucker is acceptable in the evening. After 6, we southerners must sweat through our dinner jackets (light in color and fabric if you're lucky enough to have the option). It's a fact of life down here.


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## Titus_A (Jun 23, 2010)

arkirshner said:


> I apologize for my ambiguity. I am asking about temperature, not in the context of a rule, but at what temperature do you begin to wear yours?


Well, here, in most years, the rule and the practicality go hand in hand. Before Easter it's cold outside, and after Easter it's entirely possible that it will be quite warm, depending on when precisely Easter falls. I think it would be odd, if not downright chilly, however, to wear seersucker on any day when the temperature is not expected to exceed 75 degrees. In the north you adjust accordingly: it's probably chilly before May and probably hot afterwards. So the rules fit.


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## Mississippi (Nov 10, 2009)

Only, and I mean only between Easter and Labor Day. If it's within that period, wear it whenever you want. Morning, afternoon, evening, anytime but to a black tie event. Wear it with a bowtie, wear it with a tie, bucks, black loafers, socks, no socks. It's seersucker, get over that it has stripes and pretend it's like any other suit.


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## RM Bantista (May 30, 2009)

Titus_A said:


> I am perfectly willing to express my empathy for the gentleman who wore a seersucker suit to a linen wedding, especially if the linen suits in question were light colored. Seersucker serves its wearer well even in casual settings, but it is indisputably summer business attire: light colored linens express a certain insouciance that place them more at home at garden parties than courtrooms or weddings. It is, one must admit, a very fine distinction in the context, but I am far from willing to gainsay the man's judgment in the matter.
> 
> That aside, of course seersucker is traditionally daytime wear. All suits other than formal wear are traditionally day wear. Today, should a man put on seersucker solely for the purpose of attending an event beginning after six post meridian? I should say not: certainly not if the event is to be indoors. Out of doors, if the sun is still up at the time the event begins, one might make an exception. A gentleman, then, will not don his seersucker for the Easter Vigil, although he might be forgiven if he wears it to the Sunset Symphony, or to enjoy an early patio supper. Of course, in Cincinnati, who knows if a gentleman wears seersucker at all?
> 
> Permit me to demur: the gentleman from Connecticut may take seriously, or mock, what he wills. Those of us who live---not merely reside in the transitory fashion so common today, but actually are at home---in the South are fully justified in regarding sartorial rules governing seersucker as wholly serious. One does not wear seersucker, or other white clothes, before Easter. One obviously does not wear a felt hat with a seersucker suit. One puts his seersucker away for the winter after Labor Day. One respects the customs of his forbears, and refrains from running around the country or the internet like an iconoclast. At least, that is how one conducts himself here; I have the liberty of not needing to concern myself with what the good citizens of Connecticut do with their time or their clothes, as I am at a loss to conceive of why I should ever have to travel there.


Sir Titus,
I love this post.
Regards to you.
rudy


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## Canadian (Jan 17, 2008)

When I started to become interested in what I wear, I opened a copy of GQ and bought an item rather similar to what I saw. It was a linen safari coat. 

I wore that jacket everywhere. I wore it with a bow tie to band practice, with a cardigan underneath, with a cravat, with full khakis (shirt and pants with boots). I loved it.

But I eventually noticed the weather changing. I ended up freezing my behind off often, because I felt I was stylish. I figured I'd put it away on the first day of winter.

What am I trying to get at? Certain items are begging to be worn, but the rules are guidelines. If I'm traveling and sitting at a hotel bar, I might change from my daytime wear. If I'm dining out, you bet my seersucker stays and my navy blue suit comes out. But if I'm playing poker with buddies in our hotel room (when I was a uni student, we'd go on trips and surely, very few of us could drink, so we'd bring a case of poker chips and have a couple marathon games of hold-em) or trying to appear completely calm while a fellow student of the opposite sex shows up with nothing but a trenchcoat and a bottle of champagne. 

If I am with friends and we're just hanging out, I wear my daytime suit. If it's night and we're on the prowl, or dining out, I change.

Tom


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## OH-CPA (Jun 12, 2008)

Titus_A said:


> Of course, in Cincinnati, who knows if a gentleman wears seersucker at all?


Not sure if I qualify as a gentleman or not, but you can find me wearing seersucker in Cincinnati!

I don't get caught up in the rules people come up with for seersucker. Arbitrary rules will not dictate my behavior. The rule that seersucker should not be worn before Easter or Memorial Day is nonsense. Seersucker is a warm weather fabric! As such, I look towards the weather not the calendar to determine if it is appropriate to wear. The 6PM rule is a silly as a calendar based rule. One of the advantages of seersucker is the fabrics light color does not cause one to overheat when in the sun. Let's face it the sun stays up well past 6 in the summertime.

Of course everyone is welcome to constrain themselves to these questionable rules regarding seersucker. For those that will constrain themselves to these rules I leave you one last thought. If we ever meet at an outdoor event starting at 7PM on the third Saturday of May when it is 90 degrees and sunny, I will be the one who is comfortable in my Seersucker Suit, and you will be roasting in a Navy Wool suit following the rules.


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

OH-CPA said:


> Seersucker is a warm weather fabric!


Says who, some silly rule?


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## Bjorn (May 2, 2010)

Topsider said:


> Says who, some silly rule?


It's a thin cotton fabric. Wouldn't you say heavy wool flannel is primarily a 'winter' fabric?

Though: Summer/Fall/Winter/Spring seems to refer to traditional 'British' seasons, rather than southern US (or Swedish for that matter). I can probably wear heavy flannel for 3,5 seasons...


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

Bjorn said:


> It's a thin cotton fabric. Wouldn't you say heavy wool flannel is primarily a 'winter' fabric?


Apparently, you haven't been paying attention.


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## OH-CPA (Jun 12, 2008)

Topsider said:


> Says who, some silly rule?


Somebody just likes being a contrarian don't they? No one ever said it's a rule that seersucker is a warm weather fabric. But by the fact that it is a light colored, puckered light weight cotton fabric indicates that that the intent of the fabric is to be worn in warm weather.


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## filfoster (Aug 23, 2011)

The OP asked for some concensus whether seersucker would look OK as evening wear. I took for granted it's a warm weather fabric. Anyone here seen wearing it in cold weather would likely get a few dollars stuffed in their breast pocket and directions to a shelter.


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## Atterberg (Mar 11, 2012)

Well... will anyone you're around even know the difference? If not, and probably even if so, go for it!


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

OH-CPA said:


> Somebody just likes being a contrarian don't they?


No. It's called sarcasm.

If it were just a question of temperature, you could break out the seersucker on a warm day in December.

A relevant blog post today on "Easy & Elegant Life" : https://easyandelegantlife.com/2012/04/this-sunday-is-fun-day/

An excerpt:


> Easter Sunday is two days away and the question I get asked more than any other is this: "can I wear seersucker for Easter Sunday? Poplin? Bucks?"
> 
> Yes and no.
> 
> ...


People may disagree about whether or not to follow the rules, but there are, indeed, rules.


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## Pleasant McIvor (Apr 14, 2008)

Topsider said:


> If it were just a question of temperature, you could break out the seersucker on a warm day in December.


I'd bet on a warm day in December, even in the warmest regions of the South, you could wear a wool suit and be comfortable. Sure, there are times in the spring when the weather gets warm, but that's where the Lenten sensibility applies.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

I've lived twenty-some years in the South, after having lived twenty-some years in the North.

Today I wore seersucker to church. But I wore light brown suede bucks instead of my white ones, because seersucker starts at Easter while white starts on Memorial Day.


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