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Seersucker Day Is BACK, at Least in the House

Where have you gone, seersucker days? (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo.)
Where have you gone, seersucker days? (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo.)
By Abby Livingston
Posted June 9, 2014 at 5:08pm

Somewhere in downtown Washington, ex-Sen. Trent Lott is probably a happy man. His legacy lives on, at least in the House.  

This is because a bygone tradition, Seersucker Day, returns to the Capitol this week, thanks to the efforts of Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La.  

“Congressman Bill Cassidy is proud to announce that Wednesday, June 11, National Seersucker Day will formally be reinstated,” a Cassidy release stated. “Dr. Cassidy is inviting all Members of Congress to gather after votes for a picture in their seersucker apparel.”  

“A bipartisan Capitol Hill tradition, House of Representatives Members typically wear Seersucker on Wednesdays and Senators wear it on Thursdays,” the release went on.  

Cassidy spokeswoman Jillian Rogers went so far as to rally her fellow House press secretaries behind the comeback.   In a Friday email obtained by CQ Roll Call, she encouraged her press secretary colleagues to remind their bosses to “pack their seersucker suits before returning to DC.” The tradition of wearing the unique summer suit began in the late 1990s, at the behest of Lott. But sometime around 2012, members canceled it, citing the frivolous nature of the tradition.  

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank took umbrage with the decision, arguing that “those who canceled Seersucker Thursday have got it exactly backward: Our leaders can’t agree on important things because they’re missing this kind of social lubricant.”  

It remains unclear if the Senate is on board this year. In the past, the House took part on the third Wednesday of June, while the Senate dressed up on the third Thursday of the month.  

HOH reached out to one of seersucker’s chief advocates, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., but her office did not immediately comment.  

Feinstein was such a fan of the day, that she gave 11 of her female colleagues their own seersucker suits, according to the official Senate web site .  

Is your boss dressing up? See a member prowling Longworth in the duds? A colleague? Snap a pic, send it here and we’ll determine “Who Wore It Best” on Thursday.

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