Y’all Can Keep Linen. I’m Sticking With Its Cooler Counterpart

Growing up in North Carolina has some constants: sweet tea, barbecue, Duke vs. UNC, and a deep love of seersucker. Starting Easter Sunday, the favored fabric of genteel Southern men would show up everywhere—suits, pants, shirts, you name it—and stick around all the way through Labor Day. The palette was limited (usually stripes of blue, pink, yellow, or tan against white) and the clientele skewed old money. But now, suddenly, it’s got some aura.

Designers are pushing the fabric in new directions, with mixed materials and unexpected colors like olive, navy-on-navy, and black (my personal favorite). Instead of sticking to prepped-out pieces and old-timey suits, they’re making seersucker into flowy shirts, hats, and utility pants with a twist. Indie labels are using deadstock fabric for jackets and Japanese brands are exploring seersucker’s dark side (as you’ll see below).

The point I’m making here is that seersucker’s thrown off the bowtie’d, mint-julep-drinking, Foghorn-Leghorn vibes. It’s here to relax a bit more, but never looks messy—because unlike linen, seersucker doesn’t much wrinkle. This new-look seersucker feels just as right with fisherman sandals and dress shorts, or Sambas and loose-fit summer pants, as it does with loafers and a polo.

My only real rule with the fabric might be that you shouldn’t mix stripe patterns, just to avoid looking like a walking Magic Eye poster. Whatever else you do, seersucker’s original payoff remains: you’ll beat the heat and look good doing it.

We rounded up 14 of the best seersucker pieces out there, covering every corner of your closet. Now go earn your stripes.

5 Ways to Sucker Up ASAP

Seersucker in Dark Mode

Turns out the lightweight fabric has a goth side, and we’re here for it.

Seersucker Stays Sharp

For work, weddings, summer parties, and looking the business at all times.

Seersucker at its Most Relaxed

Breathe easy while you take it easy.

What is seersucker fabric?

The word “seersucker” comes from the Persian phrase shir o shekar, meaning “milk and sugar”—a nod to its alternating smooth and bumpy texture. That signature crinkled texture is the result of weaving threads at different tensions, and it keeps the fabric from clinging to your skin, so air can move around. Hence its Southern summer popularity.

At first it was a blue collar fabric, until Ivy Leaguers in the 1920s and ’30s flipped it, wearing seersucker as a kind of casual flex, turning the blue-and-white stripes into a mark of upper-crust ease.

Where did seersucker fabric originate?

Seersucker has a history as rich as a Carolina BBQ plate. The word comes from the Persian phrase shir o shekar, meaning “milk and sugar”—a nod to its alternating smooth and bumpy texture. The fabric itself originated in India and was typically woven from cotton. That signature crinkled texture? It’s the result of weaving threads at different tensions, which helps air circulate and keeps the fabric from clinging—ideal for humid summers where the air feels like soup.

When did seersucker fabric come to the US?

Seersucker made its way to the U.S. around the late 1800s as a go-to fabric for laborers, railroad workers, and hospital uniforms—especially in the American South—because it was cheap, durable, and breathable. Ivy Leaguers hijacked it later on when students at Princeton and Yale in the 1920s and ’30s began wearing seersucker, turning the blue-and-white stripes into a mark of upper-crust ease.

From there, the word got out, and seersucker became a staple among Southern preps, Ivy types vacationing in the Hamptons, wealthy guys south of the Mason Dixon, and a healthy dose of Capitol Hill traditionalists.