What with the temperature cranking up to the 90 degree mark the past few days, I started thinking again about summah suiting and the perennial question: Is this the year Robbo goes seersucker?
I confess that for many years, as much as I liked both the look and the comfort of seersucker, I simply could not work up the nerve to wear it. For one thing, I have long been of the opinion that one must either be of a certain age or else possessed of a certain natural, physical flair in order to pull it off successfully. Having neither of these attributes, I always feared that I would simply come across as a first class dork.
For another thing, the fact of the matter is that decked out in such suiting, one is going to stand out. And although I seem to have no trouble handling attention here in the blogsphere, in the Real World I have never enjoyed standing out, preferring instead to make my way through life in quiet anonymity.
This year, though, I find that I am much more open to the idea of donning the ol’ blue and white. I’m not sure I’m ready to start appearing on the Metro for the morning commute in such a rig, but I certainly can see myself wearing it for Church and social do’s. Perhaps if I don’t see people pointing at me and snickering in such settings, I can gradually work my way up.
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April 27, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Kathy
You don’t have to go with blue and white seersucker, Robbo. They make them in gray and white. Check out Brooks Brothers. They usually have them there. Seersucker is like any other fabric—there are plenty of choices available.
April 27, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Robbo
Oh, I like the blue and white. But you know me – Mr. Old School.
April 27, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Ok, where are we with you sporting glasses? Have you decided to go in for the (more carefree than) George Will look? For now, we’ll take that as a yes until I’ve heard Father M. has lined you up with the doc who disfigured him….
And, do you still drive your Jeep? We’ll take that as a yes.
And you want to know if you should wear seersucker…..
YES!!!!!!!!!!
Pair it with Liberty of London cotton lawn ties of small floral design –think about the bow tie for my and Jordanna’s sakes please — oh and this goes for you too Maxy. Blue seersucker is terrific. So is charcoal and Maxy has the blond seersucker if memory holds? Ask him and maybe he’ll come into the city and you two can go tie shopping together….no, in this case it will not count as a loss in man cards.
Yes, by all means you will attract all sorts of new attention but most of it will be from appreciative ladies. And Sis, Bro will not have to go to confession for this new attraction thingummy. It’s not his fault he’s become a Roman Catholic Traditional Babe Magnet, is it Robbo?
April 27, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Robbo
Oh, although I deeply respect the Padre’s advice in most matters, I’m firm in my commitment not to let anyone muck about with my peepers.
As for the glasses, I’m a bit discouraged that in my cursory looking around, I haven’t yet found a nice, simple pair of round, fair-colored horn rims. I even checked out Anglo-American and didn’t really see much I liked. How difficult can this be? Any suggestions would be appreciated. (When I mentioned this idea to Mrs. R, she tried to assert veto privileges on my choice of frames, in response to which I merely laughed down from lazy eyelids, flicking an invisible speck of dust from the irreproachable Mechlin lace at my wrist.)
I have this vision of Self tooling about with the top down, decked out in horn-rims, bow tie and seersucker. Surely there’s something about such a sight in Revelations?
April 27, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Mrs. Peperium
“Surely there’s something about such a sight in Revelations?”
Oh most definitely. White stallions figure heavily (figuratively speaking of course) in the allusion.
Now just to add to your more carefree than George Will look, consider rimless frames. Try Ben Silver for the horn-rims. They’ve got, or used to, the shade just right.
April 27, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Old Dominion Tory
My flabber is gasted. I was sure that your wardrobe already bulged with seersucker suits, Robbo. The only answer to seersucker is an emphatic “Yes,” and the sooner the better. Start with blue and white and grey and white. If you’re an adventuresome sort, then travel to M. Dumas in Charleston, South Carolina, for your suits. They have many other colors as well, including red and white.
As to when to wear seersucker in Washington, when I toiled in the vineyards of politics, I wore seersucker and its close cousin, cord, all the time from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Allow me to chime in as well in regards neckwear: the floral patterns that Mrs. Peperium suggests are marvelous. For a more-carefree-than-George-Will look, I also recommend you investigate bowties from Southern Proper (a relatively new outfit in Atlanta).
Also, Mrs. Peperium’s recommendation of Ben Silver for eyeglass frames is quite sound. They have quite a selection.
Oh, and you’ll need a proper hat, too.
April 27, 2009 at 8:22 pm
ScurvyOaks
Mrs. P is right on target with the Ben Silver recommendation. Mrs. Scurvy vetoed has the horn rims, but perhaps she will relent some day.
I’m not sure about seersucker. I stick to poplin suits, which are quite comfortable as well.
April 27, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Roy
For the best selection of spectacles in the D of C. go to Voorthuis off Faragut Square near L; they are very close to Alan Edmonds. Check out the Silhouette brand rimless offerings.
April 28, 2009 at 12:17 am
Sister
You’ll note that my husband was married to me in a sort of brownish-grayish seersucker suit. He also wears rimless specs (tho was wearing contacts for the wedding – hasn’t had them in since). So I say go for it but in a more muted way. I think you might draw some unwanted attention if you start running about in hornrims and a blue seersucker suit with a floral tie. Also if you are shopping at Ben Silver, be prepared to put your house up for equity. Mucho expensive. And for me, a bit over the top. Some things can be too nice if you know what I mean. No offense to anyone.
I live in Maine.
April 28, 2009 at 12:17 am
Sister
PS The emoticom was especially for you.
April 28, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Robbo
Watch it there, Sis. I’ve kyboshed before and I will kybosh again!
April 28, 2009 at 6:11 pm
mothe
A v. nice looking man I know here in Maine wears blue/white seersucker suits to church all summer AND v colorful floral bowties AND light colored hornrims and quite likes all the attention (100% female) he attracts. Of course he is almost twice your age. Still. Sister’s husband’s rimless specs are quite attractive on him, but I think you’re the hornrim type, if you want to know. Just, for heaven’s sake, don’t get those round color-free Geo. Wills things. THAT is super nerd. IMHO you are WAY better looking than poor George, and it’s not just because I’m your mother.
April 28, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Diane
Backwards midwestern illiterate in men’s fashion here – is the seersucker just for the jacket? My mind is boggling at the moment. And proper hat – we’re not talking straw boater here, are we?
And I would second (or third or fourth, I’ve lost track) the bowtie and hornrims.
April 28, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Jordana
Seersucker! Yes! Justin’s suit is not the blue and white, but a less flashy khaki-ish color and blue-ish-grayish that Brooks Brothers may or may not still sell. I got it for his law school graduation and I think he’s been most happy to have it every summer as the warm weather rolls in. A bow tie would be a nice addition, as Mrs. P suggests, but Justin also has a lovely pink tie with flowers on it that I especially like him to wear with his seersucker suit. And he looks very manly in it.
If one is going to be a Southern lawyer, one really needs a seersucker suit.
April 28, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Robbo
Diane – It’s jacket and pants, although I have also heard of cases where the jacket was worn with either khakis or white.
And I hate to disappoint anyone, but NO HATS! They make me look ridiculous.
April 28, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Sister
Mothe – you should have written it as “(100% geriatric female)”. I do agree that Brother would look better in hornrims rather than rimless. Just not those same hornrims you wore when you were 8. Those were SUPER dorky! Especially with those crazy plaid trousers. Now let’s see here, what was I going to do now…. oh yes. This :b
April 28, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Sister
Rats – I was hoping the computer would make that last emoticom with a little yellow face!
April 29, 2009 at 1:03 am
Robbo
Oh, cheap shot! Cheap shot! You would have to bring up those starter glasses, wouldn’t you? It’s not as if I had any say in the matter!
Shall we talk about strawberry red hair dyes? Hmmmm?
Thhhhppppttth!!!!
April 29, 2009 at 1:42 am
Sister
I beg your pardon. It was called “Sun-In” and the results were decidedly ORANGE. Any female who remembers the ’70s had a hideous experience with the stuff.
Thhhppptthh yourself. Shall I say the word freckle? Mwah hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!
April 29, 2009 at 1:53 am
Robbo
I do beg your pardon! Given that you were always barricaded in your room listening to Adam Ant or else heading off to Taco Cabana with Little Miss “Sure, Okay, It’ll Be FUN!” I suppose I never got a proper dekko.
And I much preferred the freckles to the spots I got later on…..
April 29, 2009 at 2:38 pm
MCNS
I’ll have to send this comment thread to Mrs Elk. When I first saw this post I pointed it out to her and said, “Ah ha! Jos A Bank is having a sale this weekend and I am going to have to get the seersucker I’ve been wanting.” She rolled her eyes at me.
Mrs Elk does like bowties. She just needs convincing re seersucker.
April 29, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Mrs. Peperium
1. These are funny times as evidenced to what has gone wrong in the gay world. Gay men, once counted among the best dressed men, no longer dress up. They dress down if they dress at all– see recent photos of Andrew Sullivan if you need convincing. Therefore, and most happily, a man’s man (or would that be a woman’s man?) runs a (much) greater risk of attracting unwanted attention by wearing baggy cargo shorts, crocs and a baseball cap on backwards than with a seersucker suit, floral tie of small pattern and horn rims.
2. Sun-in? Oh my gosh. Did you ever use Henna? One of my sisters did. That gave off a more decided red brick tone.
3. Plaid trousers at 8? So, are we to understand Robbo, of Scottish decent himself was a big fan of the Bay City Rollers? Robbo, still waters do run deep, don’t they?
4. I think I’m old enough to take Geritol. So that makes me part of the 100% Geriatric Female attention Robbo….heh….
5. Elk, you’d look splendid in seersucker. A real natural. That’s the trick. You have to wear it naturally or you run the risk of looking like a purveyor of ice cream.
April 29, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Robbo
1. I’ll betcha nobody sets his hat at Tom Wolfe. And I certainly have no interest in looking at a photo of Sully dressed down. (Ew!)
2. I’m sure she did, even if she denies it.
3. Alas, they were not our own tartan.
4. Welcome aboard, Mrs. P. I suppose now I’m going to have to fight another duel with Mr. P!
5. Ah, you’ve put your finger on my exact fear – that I WOULDN’T look like a natural and instead would be overwhelmed with self-consciousness and have people demanding two scoops with extra sprinkles.
April 29, 2009 at 8:42 pm
The Maximum Leader
Well… I think we sort of went down this path once before:
http://www.nakedvillainy.com/index.php/archive/sartorial-posting-for-mrs-p/
By the way, I did just get the olde seersucker (natural color) out of the closet this past weekend…
April 29, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Robbo
Yes, well it’s one of those perennial questions, you know…..
April 30, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Robbo–You’ll need a fresh pair of white bucks to wear with the seersucker suits as well. However, I’d recommend that you only wear those to Mass or social dos as the wear-and-tear they’d receive on the Metro would be quite damaging.
As to your fears of not looking “natural,” please consider the title of your blog, your reading habits, and the fact that you spent years in Lexington, Virgnia. Based on that, I’d say that NOT wearing seersucker is UNNATURAL option for you.