Fashion History Mystery #34: Milk and Sugar: A Brief History of Seersucker (Dressed Classic)

Summary

Episode Summary: Fashion History Mystery #34: Milk and Sugar: A Brief History of Seersucker

In this enlightening episode of Dressed: The History of Fashion, hosts April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary delve into the intriguing history of seersucker—a fabric synonymous with summer elegance and casual sophistication. Titled "Milk and Sugar: A Brief History of Seersucker," this episode uncovers the origins, evolution, and cultural significance of seersucker, debunking common myths and highlighting its enduring presence in fashion.

---

1. Introduction to Seersucker

The episode begins with April Callahan welcoming listeners to the Fashion History Mystery series, where they address listener-submitted questions. Today’s inquiry comes from Heather Emanuel, requesting a deep dive into the history of seersucker.

April Callahan (01:56) defines seersucker as:

"a striped fabric with a distinctive puckered surface... made possible by a special weaving technique that utilizes not one but two loom bars."

Cassidy Zachary further explains the technical aspects:

"With seersucker, there are actually two sets of bars at the top and two sets of bars at the bottom, which allows two different sets of yarns to be in the warp, often spun from different types of fibers." (02:48)

---

2. The Weaving Technique and Textile Properties

The hosts delve into the unique weaving process that gives seersucker its characteristic stripes and puckered texture. April Callahan elaborates on how varying tensions and different shrinkage properties in yarns create the fabric's signature look:

"One set of warps creates the flat surfaces, and the other set creates the wrinkled stripes." (03:30)

Cassidy Zachary adds that these three-dimensional textiles, known as goffered fabrics, are prized for their cooling effects due to the air pockets between the garment and the body:

"This really facilitates air circulation... frequently worn in hot climates, including seersucker's country of origin, which is India." (03:53)

---

3. Etymology and Origins

Exploring the origins, April Callahan reveals the fascinating etymology of "seersucker":

"Seersucker comes from the Hindi word seersakar, borrowed from the Persian word shiro shakar, which translates to milk and sugar." (04:28)

This name poetically references the fabric's smooth and puckered sections, likening them to milk and sugar granules.

---

4. Seersucker’s Journey to America

The episode traces seersucker's introduction to America via the East India Company, established in 1600 to manage trade between Asia and Europe. Cassidy Zachary highlights:

"By the mid-1800s, seersucker was a ubiquitous and extremely popular textile worn by men, women, and children in the US." (05:20)

April Callahan emphasizes its practicality:

"Seersucker was well liked because it's easily washable, does not need to be ironed, and it dries exceptionally quickly." (06:08)

---

5. Debunking Myths: The Haspel Brothers and Seersucker Suits

Addressing misinformation, Cassidy Zachary challenges the widely held belief that the Haspel brothers of New Orleans invented the seersucker suit around 1907:

"I found plenty of references to seersucker suits that predate 1907, including mentions in the New York Times as early as 1878." (09:14)

She cites historical examples, such as Congressman Charles Foster of Ohio being noted for his seersucker suit in 1878, thereby debunking the myth of the Haspel brothers' invention.

---

6. Seersucker in Academic and Preppy Culture

The hosts discuss seersucker's adoption by Southern gentlemen for garden and lawn parties and its subsequent embrace by elite university students in the 1920s and 1930s. April Callahan notes:

"Seersucker was especially popular with Southern gentlemen... later adopted by male students at elite universities, contributing to its place in preppy fashion." (10:39)

Cassidy Zachary adds that seersucker's association with institutions like Brooks Brothers solidified its status in preppy wardrobes:

"The seersucker suit became an iconic part of the Ivy League aesthetic, remaining a beloved fabric in preppy style ever since." (11:33)

---

7. Modern Revival and Contemporary Use

Seersucker has maintained its relevance through contemporary fashion. April Callahan mentions modern designers who continue to incorporate seersucker into their collections:

"Designers including Thom Browne, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, and Zac Posen have utilized seersucker in their designs." (11:33)

Cassidy Zachary highlights Zac Posen’s recent collaboration with Brooks Brothers, showcasing the fabric's enduring appeal:

"Zac Posen recently did a womenswear collection using seersucker for Brooks Brothers, which is still available online." (11:55)

---

8. Seersucker Day in the US Senate

A unique tradition, Seersucker Day, is observed in the US Senate each June Thursday, where senators don seersucker attire instead of their usual dark suits. Cassidy Zachary discusses Senator Bill Cassidy’s role in promoting this event:

"Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana has been organizing Seersucker Day, promoting it as a celebration of an American product." (12:25)

However, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary critically address Senator Cassidy's claims about seersucker’s origins, clarifying its Indian roots and challenging the notion of it being uniquely American:

"Seersucker originated in India before the end of the 17th century, making it decidedly not New Orleanian nor uniquely American." (13:05)

Cassidy Zachary voices her frustration with the misinformation:

"Sir, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Maybe you should sit down and let women more qualified than you speak on these matters." (13:05)

---

9. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, April Callahan encourages listeners to incorporate seersucker into their wardrobes, emphasizing its timeless appeal and cultural significance. Cassidy Zachary invites audience engagement through questions and feedback, reinforcing the show's dedication to exploring the rich history of fashion.

---

Notable Quotes

• April Callahan (02:21): "If any of our listeners are not already familiar with seersucker, it is a striped fabric with a distinctive puckered surface."

• Cassidy Zachary (03:53): "Goeffered textiles are especially prized for their cooling effects... frequently worn in hot climates, including seersucker's country of origin, India."

• Cassidy Zachary (09:14): "I found plenty of references to seersucker suits that predate 1907, including mentions in the New York Times as early as 1878."

---

This episode of Dressed: The History of Fashion offers a comprehensive exploration of seersucker, blending historical research with contemporary insights. By correcting common misconceptions and highlighting the fabric's versatility and lasting legacy, April and Cassidy provide listeners with a deeper appreciation for one of fashion's most enduring textiles.

Transcript

[Narrator]

All you homeowners have unique needs. Some feel the need to leave up holiday decorations year round. Others have the need to use their garage as practice space for their new metal band. And because each homeowner has unique needs, GEICO helps you get the right coverage for your home and what's in it. That way you get exactly what's right for you, even if your needs are unique. Get more with GEICO Dress listeners, please.

[April Callahan]

Enjoy this episode from the Dressed archive of over 500 plus shows. You have been very patient with us and we assure you Dressed will be back with all new content in the form of season eight. Can you believe it? In March of 2025, we have so many wonderful things up our sleeves that we cannot wait to share with you. But until then, please consider heading to dressedhistory.com where you will find information regarding our upcoming fashion history tours of Paris and New York, which are both open for registration and selling fast. And while you are there, also consider signing up for our upcoming online course offerings which include what Women Wore to the Revolution coming your way in May. More from Dressed coming your way very soon.

[Cassidy Zachary]

With over 7 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day, we all get dressed.

[April Callahan]

Welcome to the History of Fashion, a podcast that explores the who, what, when of why we wear. We are fashion historians and your hosts.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Cassidy Zachary and April Callahan. It is Thursday. Thursday Thursday Cass. Which means that it's time for yet another fashion history mystery where we answer listener questions. So who is our lucky winner this week?

[April Callahan]

Next well, today's query comes to us from listener Heather Emanuel, who wrote to us requesting a minisode on the history of, well, the seersucker.

[Cassidy Zachary]

I admittedly knew little about seersucker aside from its stereotypical association with dapper Southern gentlemen. So as I started researching this episode, I was surprised that our investigation would take us not only halfway around the world, but also that there is a shocking amount of misinformation out there about the history of the textile that is known as seersucker.

[April Callahan]

And we love correcting that misinformation on dress. So perhaps this is where we should first begin, which is with the textile itself. If any of our listeners are not already familiar with seersucker, it is a striped fabric with a distinctive puckered surface. So while portions of the textile are flat, There are also 3D tiny little puffs which are made possible by a special weaving technique that utilizes not one but two loom bars.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes, so usually when a fabric is woven, warp threads which are the threads that run vertically in a fabric, they're stretched and held taut by a single bar at the top and then a single bar at the bottom. And then when they're all the tension is applied, then the weft threads are woven in horizontally. But with seersucker, there are actually two sets of bars at the top and two sets of bars at the bottom, which allows two different sets of yarns to be in the warp. And oftentimes, these are spun from different types of fibers. So it's. It's a little complicated, but that's the gist of it.

[April Callahan]

And this accounts for the stripes, right, when the yarns alternate in color?

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes, exactly.

[April Callahan]

So this double bar technique is also what creates the puckering. So this can be done a couple of different ways. One way would be to use different tension settings on each bar, so one set of warps creating the flat surfaces, and the other set creating the wrinkled stripes running in the warp direction. Yet another technique would be to use warp yarns that have different shrinkage properties in order to create the puckers.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And These types of 3D textiles are also known as goffered fabrics. And goffered fabrics, or goffer textiles are especially prized for their cooling effects. And that's because the puffed areas create these little air pockets that are between the garment and the body below. And this really facilitates air circulation. And this is why goffered textiles are frequently worn in hot climates, including seersuckers country of origin, which is none other than Da da da. India.

[April Callahan]

Aha.

[Cassidy Zachary]

So there's a minor bit of the mystery solved right there.

[April Callahan]

We told you we were going to be doing a bit of traveling in this episode. And perhaps this is no more evident than in the etymology of the word seersucker. Seersucker, as we say in English, comes from the Hindi word seersakar, which in turn had been borrowed from the Persian word shiro shakar, which translates to milk and sugar. It's thought that the smooth portions of the fabric refer to the flat surface of milk, while the puckers reference crunchy granules of sugar. What a wonderful reference.

[Cassidy Zachary]

I know. It's very romantic. Yeah, I had no idea.

[April Callahan]

By the end of the 17th century, the Hindi pronunciation had been Anglicized seersucker. And we see ship manifest referencing Indian seersucker fabrics as cargo intended for the US colonies beginning all the way back to 1694.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Mm. And all of this made possible by the grand old tradition of colonization.

[April Callahan]

Oh, yes, that old thing.

[Cassidy Zachary]

So the monopolistic trading endeavor known as the East India Company, which I'm sure a lot of our listeners already know a bit about. It was formed in 1600 ostensibly to run the spice trade between southern Asia, India and Europe. And soon, quote unquote, the company, as it was known, came to engage in trading all sorts of other goods besides spices, including textiles. And eventually these textiles made their way to North America. Because in the US by the mid-1800s, seersucker was a ubiquitous and extremely popular textile worn by men, women and children.

[April Callahan]

Alike, especially for labor and leisure activities. So light and cool, Seersucker was well liked at this time because it's easily washable, it does not need to be ironed, and it dries exceptionally quickly. Fashion magazines of the mid to late 19th century are chock full of references to seersucker as it was used for petticoats and work dresses in 1872. Harper's Bazaar notes that seersucker could be had for as cheap as 10 cents a yard, which would be about $2 a yard today.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Which is pretty cheap for fabric.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, absolutely. And in February 1915, an article entitled the Correctly Costume Maid appeared in Harper's Bazaar which noted the child's nurse costume as shown by Joseph is similar to the trained nurse uniform, consist of a striped seersucker dress with a five gored skirt, linen apron, cap, collar and cuffs. This ensemble, April, would set you back anywhere from 40 to $60 today.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yes, so seersucker had connotations at this time of being a somewhat casual textile or fabric, but that did not mean that it was necessarily relegated to be worn by only the working classes. And I want to issue a word of caution here because I encountered a lot lot of misinformation floating about on the Internet and other kind of like, you know, well respected sources that credits the invention of seersucker or specifically the seersucker suit to a New Orleans clothing manufacturer, the Haspel brothers, sometime around 1907 or 1909. Menopause, perimenopause. These can be some of the most uncomfortable phases of a woman's life. If you find yourself in either of these, well, Hormone Harmony is here for you. Hormone Harmony capsules contain science backed herbal extracts called adaptogens. Now here's the beauty about adaptogens. They help the body adapt to any stressors like chaotic hormonal changes that happen naturally throughout a woman's life.

[April Callahan]

Happy Mammoth, the company that created Hormone Harmony, is dedicated to making women's lives easier. And that means using only science backed ingredients that have been proven to work for women. They make no compromise when it comes to quality. And it really shows.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And get this hormone harmony isn't just for menopause. Any woman with symptoms of hormonal imbalances can take it, but it is perfect for those horrible menopause symptoms that put a woman's life on hold.

[April Callahan]

And for a limited time, you can get 15% off your entire first [e-mail] just use the code dressed at checkout. That's happymammoth.com and use the code dressed for 15% off today.

[Narrator]

All you homeowners have unique needs. Some feel the need to leave up holiday decorations year round. Others have the need to use their garage as practice space for their new metal band. And because each homeowner has unique needs, GEICO helps you get the right coverage for your home and what's in it. That way you get exactly what's right for you, even if your needs are unique. Get more with geico.

[Cassidy Zachary]

I mean, even Women's Wear Daily cast is kind of propagating this myth. I say myth because I found plenty of references to seersucker suits that predate 1907. A lot of them that were in the New York Times. For instance, we see Congressman Charles Foster of Ohio, and he's noted to be wearing a seersucker suit by the New York Times in 1878. And there's yet another really kind of fun account of how hot it was in New York City in July.July of 1887. And it says, quote, a fat man had perspired a brindle seersucker suit into a state of unwrinkled flatness, which apparently he had sweat so much through this suit that the crinkles of the textile disappeared under this weight of the sweat soaked fibers. But don't worry, the article goes on to note that he ducked into a soda counter to cool off with a watermelon fizz.

[April Callahan]

Oh, thank goodness.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Sounds like he needs a fan.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, well, you see right there, dressless the importance of doing primary source research. So while the Haspel brothers of New Orleans did not necessarily invent the seersucker suit, you know, they certainly did a lot to promote the style and rumors kind of swirl of their publicity stunts. Things like jumping in the ocean in seersucker suits at seaside clothing conventions, only to wear a now dry suit to a dinner event later that evening.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah, and whether these publicity stunts were true or not, what we do know is that the seersucker suit was especially popular with Southern gentlemen for garden and lawn parties at the beginning of the 20th century, if not much, much earlier. So in the 1920s and the 1930s, this style was also adopted by male students at elite universities, perhaps by way of Brooks Brothers, who, Cass also claimed to have invented the seersucker suit, but they say that perhaps their company invented it all the way back in the 80s, 1830s. But, you know, some of this stuff is, you know, nebulous and up in the air. But what we do know is that the seersucker's popularity with the Ivy League set, this is really what saw its entry into this pantheon of preppy style. And it's really remained there ever since.

[April Callahan]

Right. Long considered a summer staple, seersucker continues to be a much beloved, you know, textile for any number of clothing designs today, used by designers including Thom Brown, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, and Zac Posen, who actually, Zach, just recently did a womenswear collection using seersucker for none other than the aforementioned Brooks Brothers.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Yeah, and I actually think that Posen Brooks Brothers collection is still up for sale online at the time that this episode will air, because I just actually looked. I went back and checked, and I looked at it the other day.

[April Callahan]

Yeah. And April, I'm not sure if you have read anything about this, but apparently since the 1990s, the US Senate declares one Thursday in June to be Seersucker Day. And this, the senators, if they so choose, deviate from their usual uniforms of dark colored suits. And, well, they don seersucker. Yeah.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And that's both men and lady senators, I would like to point out. And Cass, I did know about this. And get this. Okay, this is good. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana has of recent been the point person that's been organizing this Sarahsucker Day event. And there's an article that appeared in USA Today last year, so in 2018, and it quotes him saying this in regards to saersucker. It says, quote, it truly is a celebration of an American product, uniquely American. It also happens to be New Orleanian, which adds to our national culture.

[April Callahan]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Mm. Exactly. Because clearly we just talked about the fact that a seersucker originated in India sometime before the end of the 17th century. So it is decidedly not New Orleanian nor uniquely American. So, Cass, it gives me extreme amounts of great glee given the fact that Senator Bill Cassidy has been the one leading the charge attempting to limit women's reproductive rights in the state of Louisiana, to say this, sir, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Perhaps you should sit down, embrace a little bit of humility, and let women way more qualified than you to speak on all of these matters. Seersuckers, women's reproductive rights, et cetera, et cetera. Maybe you should let us lead this conversation.

[April Callahan]

And on that note, that does it for us. To sweet dressed listeners, may you consider incorporating a little seersucker into your wardrobe next time you get dressed.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Remember, we love hearing from you, so if you'd like to write to us, you can do [e-mail] or you can also DM us us on Instagram restorepodcast, which is of course where you'll find reels and posts accompanying each week's episodes. We get so many questions from you all about our recommendations for fashion history books, so if you're interested, you can always find a link in our show Notes to our Bookshop Bookshelf. So that address is bookshop.org shop forward/dressed and there you can find over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles.

[April Callahan]

You can also find a link to that in our show Notes where you can find a link to dressedhistory.com which of course is our website where you can check out our latest offerings from the dress universe that includes our classes and our tours. So head over to DressedHistory.com and see what we have up our sleeves. Love dress but want to skip the ads? Consider subscribing to our ad free version of the show for just $3 a month and enjoy our eight new episodes a month ad free. That does it for us today. Dress listeners. Thank you as always for tuning in and more dress coming your way very soon. The History of Fashion is a production of dressed media.

[Narrator]

All you homeowners have unique needs. Some feel the need to leave up holiday decorations year round. Others have the need to use their garage as practice space for their new metal band. And because each homeowner has unique needs, GEICO helps you get the right coverage for your home and what's in it. That way you get exactly what's right for you, even if your needs are unique. Get more with geico.

[April Callahan]

All you homeowners have unique needs. Some feel the need to paint their door a vibrant shade of blue. Others have the need to decorate their bathroom with fish anchors and other nautical items. And because each homeowner has unique needs, GEICO helps you get the right coverage for your home and what's in it. That way you get exactly what's right for you Even if your needs are unique, get more with Geico.