May 5, 2013

Real People: Derby Day

I love The Thrifty Gent’s Derby Day outfit. All thrifted, by the way. Note the horse motif on the tie. If ever there was a day where a ridiculous seersucker costume was appropriate, it’s Derby Day. Especially if you’re a mild-mannered southern minister, which Thrifty Gent is.

Posted in Real People The Kentucky Derby Seersucker Summer
July 26, 2010
Members of the US Senate on Seersucker Thursday, 2006.

Members of the US Senate on Seersucker Thursday, 2006.

Posted in Seersucker Trent Lott Government Suits
June 2, 2010
Q and Answer: When can I wear seersucker? Sam writes: I know the traditional advice that one should only wear a seersucker suit after Memorial Day, but I’m also aware that seersucker tends to be a traditionally southern style of dress. I am now presented with the opportunity to attend a post-Memorial day wedding in the Northeast. I intend to wear my suit in an entirely un-ironic way. Can I get away with this? Seersucker is a very, very bold statement.  As a general rule, it’s best to avoid very, very bold statements at weddings, on the theory that the attention at a wedding should be on the bride, not on the guests. That said, I think there is room for seersucker at a wedding, particularly considering the contemporary resurgence of the fashion nationwide.  The basics are pretty simple.  As you’ve already figured out, you should follow the weather.  I’d be comfortable going as far back in the year as Easter if it’s hot outside.  You should also follow the time of day - seersucker is at home in the sun, not so much the night.  It’s fine if you’re going to an event that starts at 2, but not so much one that starts at 6. It should fit the occasion.  Don’t show up all Colonel Sanders-ed out to a wedding where everyone else is wearing t-shirts they got from sending in cigarette UPCs. You should do it right.  It should fit and look good.  This advice is a bit more nebulous, but it has to be that way.  It’s key for it not to look like a goofy costume, and that requires some panache on your part, some comfort in the role, and some great execution. Fulfill those goals and you’ll be golden.  My pal Rob wore seersucker to my San Francisco wedding, and he looked like a million dollars.  It can be done.

Q and Answer: When can I wear seersucker?

Sam writes: I know the traditional advice that one should only wear a seersucker suit after Memorial Day, but I’m also aware that seersucker tends to be a traditionally southern style of dress. I am now presented with the opportunity to attend a post-Memorial day wedding in the Northeast. I intend to wear my suit in an entirely un-ironic way. Can I get away with this?

Seersucker is a very, very bold statement.  As a general rule, it’s best to avoid very, very bold statements at weddings, on the theory that the attention at a wedding should be on the bride, not on the guests.

That said, I think there is room for seersucker at a wedding, particularly considering the contemporary resurgence of the fashion nationwide.  The basics are pretty simple. 

  • As you’ve already figured out, you should follow the weather.  I’d be comfortable going as far back in the year as Easter if it’s hot outside. 
  • You should also follow the time of day - seersucker is at home in the sun, not so much the night.  It’s fine if you’re going to an event that starts at 2, but not so much one that starts at 6.
  • It should fit the occasion.  Don’t show up all Colonel Sanders-ed out to a wedding where everyone else is wearing t-shirts they got from sending in cigarette UPCs.
  • You should do it right.  It should fit and look good.  This advice is a bit more nebulous, but it has to be that way.  It’s key for it not to look like a goofy costume, and that requires some panache on your part, some comfort in the role, and some great execution.

Fulfill those goals and you’ll be golden.  My pal Rob wore seersucker to my San Francisco wedding, and he looked like a million dollars.  It can be done.

Posted in Q and Answer Summer Seersucker Suits Weddings
March 31, 2010
It’s On Sale Seersucker Necktie $9.99 from $19.99 at Lands’ End

It’s On Sale

Seersucker Necktie

$9.99 from $19.99 at Lands’ End

Posted in It's On Sale Ties Lands' End Seersucker Spring Summer
February 12, 2010
“Whereas, in the 80s, he had hewed faithfully to the fashion conventions of the time, collecting expensive basketball shoes and wearing his hair in a rococo power mullet, in his last decade he pointedly dressed in a suit nearly every day, favoring Brooks Brothers and the custom tailor Henry Poole of Savile Row. “I think it bothered him that people his same age, of similar means, were wearing sweat suits and Twittering,” said James. Though he still kept up with new music—Hughes had been a legendarily voracious record buyer in the old days, admired by rock snobs for the acuity of his soundtrack picks—he now viewed it as his primary duty to be, in his younger son’s words, “the curious, engaged grandpa in the seersucker.” — Vanity Fair’s David Kamp on John Hughes (thanks Rich)
Posted in Wisdom John Hughes Vanity Fair Seersucker Henry Poole Brooks Brothers