SEERSUCKER Puckered cotton fabric remains summer favorite

It's cool and comfortable. And now it's even fashionable.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Seersucker is so cool. The natural ventilation provided by the puckered surface makes it a perennial summer favorite.
Usually made of cotton, it wrinkles easily and, typically, when a colored thread is introduced, it is overcome by all the white threads, and the fabric takes on a pastel hue. Which is why it's popular for baby clothes -- and men's summer suits. The thermo qualities can be the only attraction for the men, as the suits take on the appearance of a used tissue after an hour's wear.
Seersucker is the summer equivalent of flannel. Both transcend flighty trends and show up with regularity in the lines of clothing companies known more for their longevity than their fashion direction. Think L.L. Bean, Lands' End, Orvis, Brooks Bros. Those are the retail establishments where summer just isn't gimlet weather without seersucker. Its history tends to reduce the fabric to a wardrobe standard rather than a fashion standout.
It's even trendy
This season, though, seersucker has leapt at least temporarily back onto the backs of the fashionably conscious, including "Today" show host Katie Couric and even rapper Jermaine Dupri. The question is: How do you wear seersucker and not look like a sheer sucker?
The fabric has to be paired with something renegade. Do try it with pointy-toed mules, cruel boots, sleeveless T's and black denim. Don't give in to its preppy past -- no white shoes or pastel shirts, please, unless you are in the hands of a professional stylist. The pros push the envelope on seersucker's old form and pair multiple pastels, with oversize floral creations on the lapel. They even go so far as to suggest white bucks. A safer choice would be low-top Converse All Stars.