Etiquetteer often likes to pull out a seersucker suit for Easter, in spite of sometimes very cold weather, because pastel colors are associated with springtime and Easter. But is it Perfectly Proper to wear seersucker that early? There’s little agreement on the subject.
Emily Post doesn’t even mention seersucker in her books, nor does Amy Vanderbilt, though she references “gabardines and the various lightweight miracle fabrics” when discussing a gentleman’s spring and summer office clothes*. Esquire Etiquette of 1953 goes a bit further, including seersucker in its list of conservative summer fabrics. But the writers, to Etiquetteer’s chagrin, recommend avoiding “too light, ice-creamy shades.” They add “He may substitute a seersucker jacket and grey flannel slacks for matching suit, but only because ordinary seersucker trousers wrinkle so readily.” Online, and from this century, Gentleman’s Gazette produced a comprehensive guide to seersucker, including its history, its success in America thanks to Haspel, and what to wear with it.
And those are all very helpful resources, but none of them specify when it’s Perfectly Proper to start wearing one’s seersucker in public**. We all know about white shoes being allowed starting on Memorial Day, and traditionalists obey it. And we know about Straw Hat Day, which is now May 15 every year. Isn’t there a Seersucker Day, too? Should there be? Last year US Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana declared June 13 National Seersucker Day, but that was more of a Celebration of Seersucker (and why not?) than an Opening of the Season***. Could it - gasp - be possible that we are free to use our own judgment?!
Unsurprisingly, the most important factor is current weather conditions where you live; the warmer the climate, the more allowable seersucker is. Bespoke Unit specifies “warm weather only,” implying that seersucker is appropriate whenever the weather is warm. That does mean that there won’t be a universal Seersucker Day. But Easter Sunday is the absolute earliest that seersucker might appear. Atlanta haberdashers suggest that Yankees (meaning anyone living north of the Mason-Dixon Line) shouldn’t even think about wearing seersucker until Memorial Day. They also suggest that seersucker get put away on Labor Day. But if seersucker is a hot-weather fabric and one considers September temperatures . . . well, Etiquetteer would allow it until Columbus Day, but definitely not afterward.
So, in conclusion, seersucker may be worn in warm weather wherever you live, but not, as a rule, earlier than Easter Sunday. And not even then if Easter is very cold where you live. Etiquetteer, in New England, will now have to find another way to satisfy a craving for pastel haberdashery at Easter.
*It’s worth observing that Mrs. Vanderbilt took note of the recent innovation of air conditioning as a reason for a gentleman to keep his suit coat on at all times.
**The Art of Manliness website finally provides dates: Memorial Day to Labor Day, just like white shoes.
***It seems the US Senate has fluctuated in its seersucker observations over the last 25 years or so.