![Seersucker01closeup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Seersucker01closeup.JPG)
Seersucker or railroad stripe is a thin, puckered, usually
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
fabric
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
, commonly but not necessarily striped or chequered, used to make clothing for hot weather. The word originates from the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
words and , literally meaning "milk and sugar", from the gritty texture ("sugar") on the otherwise smooth ("milk") cloth.
Seersucker is
woven
Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics are often created on a loom, and made of many threads woven on a warp and a weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to on ...
in such a way that some
threads bunch together, giving the fabric a wrinkled or puckered appearance. This effect is often achieved during weaving by
warp
Warp, warped or warping may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books and comics
* WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher
* ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!''
* Warp (comics), a ...
threads for the puckered bands being fed at a greater rate than the warp threads of the smooth stripes. (These are often of different colors but do not need not be.) The unevenness causes the fabric to be mostly held away from the skin rather than being plastered on it when wet with sweat, facilitating heat dissipation and air circulation. It also means that ironing is not necessary.
Common items made from seersucker include
suits,
shorts
Shorts are a garment worn over the human pelvis, pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" b ...
,
shirt
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist).
Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. I ...
s,
dresses
A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that covers ...
, and
robes
A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word ''robe'' derives from Middle English ''robe'' ("garment"), borrowed from Old French ''robe'' ("booty, spoil ...
. In the United States, it is often made in white and blue stripes; however, it is produced in a wide variety of colors, usually with narrow plain and puckered stripes in different colors.
History
During the
British colonial period
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, seersucker was a popular material in Britain's hot-weather colonies such as
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. When seersucker was introduced in the United States it was used for many garments. For suits, the material was considered a mainstay of the summer wardrobe of
gentlemen
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...
, especially in the hot and humid
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
before air conditioning.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, this cheap but durable material was used to make
haversack
A haversack, musette bag or small pack is a bag with a single shoulder strap. Although similar to a backpack, the single shoulder strap differentiates this type from other backpacks. There are exceptions to this general rule.
Origins
The word ...
s and even the famous
baggy pants
Wide-leg jeans, colloquially called baggy pants, are a style of clothing that were popular from the early 1990s to the early 2010s. The quintessential brand of " hip-hop"-style wide-leg jeans comes from the Los Angeles–based JNCO ("Judge None ...
of Confederate
Zouave
The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The zouaves were among the most decorated unit ...
s such as the
Louisiana Tigers
Louisiana Tigers was the common nickname for certain infantry troops from the State of Louisiana in the Confederate army during the American Civil War. Originally applied to a specific company, the nickname expanded to a battalion, then to a brig ...
.
From the mid-
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
until the early 20th century, seersucker was also known as bed
ticking Ticking is a type of cloth, traditionally a tightly-woven cotton or linen textile. It is traditionally used to cover tick mattresses and bed pillows. The tight weave makes it more durable and hinders the stuffing (straw, chaff, hair, down feathers, ...
due to its widespread use in
mattress
A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a lying person. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, conta ...
es,
pillow
A pillow is a support of the body at rest for comfort, therapy, or decoration. Pillows are used in different variations by many species, including humans. Some types of pillows include throw pillows, body pillows, decorative pillows, and man ...
cases and
nightshirt
A nightshirt is a garment intended for wear while sleeping, often with a nightcap. It is longer than most regular shirts, reaching down below the knees, leaving some of the legs uncovered. It is often referred to as a nightgown for men, but now ...
s during the hot summers in the Southern US and Britain's overseas colonies.
![Steamtown NHS-27527-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Steamtown_NHS-27527-1.jpg)
The fabric was originally worn by the poor in the U.S. until preppy undergraduate students began wearing it in the 1920s in an air of
reverse snobbery
''Snob'' is a pejorative term for a person who believes there is a correlation between social status (including physical appearance) and human worth.De Botton, A. (2004), ''Status Anxiety''. London: Hamish Hamilton ''Snob'' also refers to a per ...
.
Seersucker's comfort and easy laundering made it the choice of Captain Anne A. Lentz, one of the first female officers selected to run the
Marine Corps Women's Reserve
United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve (Reserve) was the World War II women's branch of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. It was authorized by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 30July 1942. ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, for the summer service uniforms of the first female
United States Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...
. From the 1940s onwards, nurses and US
hospital volunteer
Hospital volunteers, also known as candy stripers in the United States, work without regular pay in a variety of health care settings, usually under the direct supervision of nurses.
The term candy striper is derived from the red-and-white s ...
s also wore uniforms made from a type of red and white seersucker known as candy stripe.
Hickory stripe
In the days of the
Old West
The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
, a type of heavyweight indigo or navy blue seersucker known as hickory stripe was used to make the
overalls
Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers".
Overalls were ...
, work jackets and
peaked cap
The peaked cap, peaked hat, service cap, barracks cover or combination cap is a form of headgear worn by the armed forces of many nations, as well as many uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. It ...
s of
train engineer
A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...
s and railroad workers such as
George "Stormy" Kromer and
Casey Jones
John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi.
Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Ce ...
. It was later worn by butchers and employees of the gasoline companies, most notably
Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
. This cotton fabric was durable like denim, cheap to produce, and kept the wearer cooler in the hot cab of the
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
.
Even today, the uniforms of American
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
train drivers include "railroad stripe" caps based on those from the steam age.
In fashion
About 1909,
clothier Joseph Haspel, Sr. started making
men's suits
A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead ...
out of seersucker fabric, which soon became regionally popular as more comfortable and practical than other types of suits for the hot and humid southern climate.
During the 1950s, cheap railroad stripe overalls were worn by many young boys until they were old enough to wear jeans. This coincided with the popularity of
train set
Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale.
The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...
s, and films such as ''
The Great Locomotive Chase
''The Great Locomotive Chase'' is a 1956 American adventure western film produced by Walt Disney Productions, based on the Great Locomotive Chase that occurred in 1862 during the American Civil War. Filmed in CinemaScope and in color, the fil ...
''. At the same time, seersucker formal wear continued to be worn by many professional adults in the Southern and Southwestern US. College professors were known to favor full suits with red bow ties, although 1950s
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...
and 21st century
preppy
Preppy (also spelled preppie) or prep (all abbreviations of the word ''preparatory'') is a subculture in the United States associated with the alumni of old private Northeastern college preparatory schools. The terms are used to denote a perso ...
students usually restricted themselves to a single seersucker garment such as a blazer paired with khaki
chino trousers. Menswear brands famous for manufacturing seersucker at this time included
Brooks Brothers
Brooks Brothers, founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1818, is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in America. Originally a family business, Brooks Brothers produces clothing for men, women and children, as well as home furnishings. B ...
,
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
,
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
, and Joseph Haspel of New Orleans.
In the 1970s, seersucker trousers were popular among young urban
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s seeking to connect to their rural American heritage. The fabric made a comeback among teenage girls in the
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...
, and again in the
2010s
File:2010s collage v21.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was Death of Muammar Gadd ...
.
![Barroso-Byrne-Madame Satã, 1986](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Barroso-Byrne-Madame_Sat%C3%A3%2C_1986.jpg)
Beginning in 1996, the
US Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
held a
Seersucker Thursday
Seersucker Thursday is an annual tradition in the United States Congress in which senators wear clothing made of seersucker on National Seersucker Day, traditionally observed on a "'nice and warm day' in the second or third week of June'". in June, where the participants dress in traditionally Southern clothing, but the tradition was discontinued in June 2012. It had been revived by members of the US Senate in 2014.
2010 to present
![Australian Olympic Team Uniforms for Rio 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Australian_Olympic_Team_Uniforms_for_Rio_2016.JPG)
From 2012 onwards, seersucker
blazer
A blazer is a type of jacket resembling a suit jacket, but cut more casually. A blazer is generally distinguished from a sport coat as a more formal garment and tailored from solid colour fabrics. Blazers often have naval-style metal buttons ...
s and trousers made a comeback among American men due to a resurgence of interest in
preppy
Preppy (also spelled preppie) or prep (all abbreviations of the word ''preparatory'') is a subculture in the United States associated with the alumni of old private Northeastern college preparatory schools. The terms are used to denote a perso ...
clothing and the
1920s fashion
Western fashion in the 1920s underwent a modernization. For women, fashion had continued to change away from the extravagant and restrictive styles of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and towards looser clothing which revealed more of the ...
showcased in the 2013 film version of ''
The Great Gatsby
''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts First-person narrative, first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious mil ...
''. Although pale blue and dark blue stripes remained the most popular choice, alternative colors included green, red, black, grey, beige, yellow, orange, purple, pink, and brown. The traditional two-button blazer was updated with a slimmer cut and Edwardian-inspired lapel piping, and double-breasted jackets became available during the mid-
2010s
File:2010s collage v21.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was Death of Muammar Gadd ...
. Since 2010, "Seersucker Social" events have been held in major cities across the United States, where participants wear vintage clothes and ride vintage bicycles. Such events are the summer equivalent of a
Tweed Run, which is traditionally held in the fall.
In the
2016 Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...
hosted by Brazil, the
Australian Olympic team received green and white seersucker blazers and
Toms Shoes
Toms (stylized as TOMS) is a for-profit companybusinessoffashion.coBlake Mycoskie on 10 Years of TomsMAY 6, 2016 based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, an entrepreneur from Arlington, Texas, the company designs and ...
rather than the traditional dark green with gold trim. At the same time, seersucker pants, skirts, espadrilles, blouses, and even bikinis were worn as casual attire by many fashion conscious young women in America.
Weaving process
Seersucker is made by slack-tension weave. The threads are wound onto the two warp beams in groups of 10 to 16 for a narrow stripe. The stripes are always in the warp direction and on grain. Today, seersucker is produced by a limited number of manufacturers. It is a low-profit, high-cost item because of its slow weaving speed.
Gallery
File:Seersucker02.jpg, Green/white checkered seersucker fabric
File:Seersucker shirt.JPG, Shirt from green/white seersucker fabric
File:Seersucker-sample1.jpg, Blue/white striped seersucker fabric
File:Seersucker01.jpg, Green/white striped seersucker fabric
File:Wikimania 2012 2226.JPG, David Ferriero
David Sean Ferriero (; born December 31, 1945) is an American librarian and library administrator, who served as the 10th Archivist of the United States. He previously served as the Director of the New York Public Library,Oder, Norman. "NYPL Reo ...
, speaking at Wikimania 2012
Wikimania is the Wikimedia movement's annual conference, organized by volunteers and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. Topics of presentations and discussions include Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, other wikis, open-source software, f ...
, wearing a seersucker suit
Seersucker Day at US Capitol - 2019.jpg, Members of the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
on Seersucker Day 2019
See also
*
Rayadillo
Rayadillo was a blue-and-white striped cotton or flannel material used to make the military uniforms worn by Spanish colonial soldiers from the mid 19th century until the early 20th century. It was commonly worn by soldiers posted in overseas Sp ...
References
External links
*
{{fabric
Woven fabrics
American clothing
Indian clothing
1920s fashion
1950s fashion
1970s fashion
1990s fashion
2010s fashion
Workwear
History of rail transportation in the United States