Stripe Dream

I cannot get enough seersucker. Perhaps it is for the same reasons I love madras, white denim, and Nantucket reds: wardrobe rules dictate that one can only wear these traditional style staples from Memorial Day to Labor Day, no matter the climate. Since the seasons restrict the opportunity to break out summer’s best, I never feel like I get to wear it all enough. When this dress became available in tall during the late winter, I jumped at it.

I have a friend who, circa 2010, made the faux pas of wearing seersucker a few days too early. As he recounts, the occasion was a press event for the nonprofit we worked for; this event was a professional one and called for a suit. While the nonprofit was headquartered in Washington DC, many of the focus areas including the location of this press event, were in the deep south. The temperature and the humidity necessitated something cool and breathable. My friend assumed that being in the south, the rules may be bent and despite having an initial reservation, he wore his seersucker suit.

My friend’s initial instincts were correct. After the press event, he met one of the nonprofit board members: a elderly gentleman who was born, educated, and raised south of the Mason-Dixon line. With a gentlemanly drawl, he stuck my friend with the comment, “I don’t know about you, but my momma taught me that seersucker was not to be worn prior to Memorial Day,” and walked off.

Burn. Consider us educated.