Crinkled and loose – Style – Kommersant

Summer wardrobe is, first of all, special attention to materials. Linen, fine wool, silk and satin remain the most popular options for the warm season. However, it is worth remembering another material associated with summer: seersucker cotton. We tell you what a seersucker is and why it is ideal for the heat.

The name of cotton seersucker itself comes from the Persian words shir and shakar – literally they are translated as “milk” and “sugar”, respectively. This name, most likely, is caused by the texture of the fabric – its smooth part refers to milk, the rough part – to the textured surface of sugar. How is this effect achieved? Seersucker (or crinkled chintz) is a cotton fabric woven from smooth and crinkled threads. This effect is achieved by the fact that the threads for the crinkled strips are woven faster than the threads for the smooth ones. As a rule, they differ in color, so seersucker products are most often obtained in small stripes. Such cotton was especially popular in India during the British colonies.

Actually, the British changed the Persian shirshukar into a sirsaker. The cloth was traded by the British East India Company, which transported it from India to Great Britain. There, seersucker products became a popular summer attribute. Later, the fashion for the seersucker spread throughout Europe, and closer to the 20th century, the seersucker “migrated” to the United States, where it became especially popular in the south. One of the main manufacturers of seersucker items is the Haspel company of Joseph Haspel Sr.

Why is a seersucker so good? Firstly, due to the initial “wrinkling” of the fabric, it does not need to be ironed – which is very convenient when traveling or frequently moving around the city. Secondly, from a utilitarian point of view, the seersucker is ideal for hot weather: this lightweight fabric does not stick to the body, dries quickly and allows air to circulate when worn – so it is not hot in it. Because of their association with the summer season, wrinkled chintz suits, shirts and dresses are usually sold in matching colors. The most popular is the blue and white stripe, but the color can be anything. You should not wear such a suit for a formal meeting, but for an outdoor cocktail party or a meeting on the veranda, it will be just right.

It is not difficult to assemble a whole image with things from a seersucker. If we are talking about a shirt, then it can be worn with a suit made of very fine wool or linen. The jacket should be chosen without lining or get rid of it altogether. With suits made of seersucker, the opposite technique plays – under such a jacket you can wear just a linen shirt or a weightless cotton T-shirt (preferably white). Shoes should also be summer: espadrilles, moccasins or slippers are best. And don’t limit yourself in terms of accessories: you can add a watch on a striped strap or a braided bracelet to the obligatory sunglasses.

Ilya Petruk