Photo: Courtesy William H Haltom
Not since Gary Cooper strode that dusty western street to do in the seemingly invincible black-hat jaspers in the academy award winning movie, has “High Noon” assumed such dramatic proportions. But it was just at that seersucker hour at the beginning of the Delta, the Peabody Lobby, that a flash mob assembled to claim long-neglected rights on Friday, August 29; a day that shall live in the annals of late-summer “Cool.”
Photo Courtesy William H Haltom
Several score sported gray and white, blue and white, butterscotch and white, red and white seersucker! They were distaff demonstrators and Atticus-attired he-men (and NO, I won’t say he-persons) voicing eloquent appeals that the MidSouth Fashion Police spare wearers of the puckering cloth until the Ides of October, at least. So perfectly plausible and ringing were the arguments against having to wear tweeds to the first September football game played in 90 degree heat, that the fabled walls to Southern Comfort came tumblin’ down. The Fashion Police must have been sworn in amid blasts of early autumn lake-effect chill in the upper Midwest to deprive the Ashley Wilkeses of the MIdSouth of their seersucker so soon…so soon.
That vaunted Community Organizer, Bill Haltom, spread the word yet another year that the banner of his cause, unfurled and proud seersucker, would wave in demonstration for common sense and cool heads. His disciples were vocal in appreciation as Haltom in rhetoric fully reminiscent of Rev. King, exhorted, cajoled, wooed and tested with a wealth of seersucker trivia. Surely, the Peabody and Memphis have earned yet another historic distinction…..The Seersuck Heard Round the World?
“We cotton to all y’all, you hear?”
Photo: Courtesy William H Haltom
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As soon as I saw the title I was sure Bill Haltom was involved. Wish I could have experienced it in person!
That’s SO Memphis…and, I love it! Thanks for the spirited reporting and write-up!
Now that’s MY kind of flash mob, loving that masculine look. Bowties add enhancement to the ss suit, too. The article is a grand piece of stylish writing!
And thanks for the Wiki info, and for memories of my dear grandfather in Natchez so long ago!!
Interesting fact quoted from Wiki: Seersucker … came into English from Hindustani (Urdu and Hindi), and originates from the words “kheer aur shakkar”, literally meaning “milk and sugar”, probably from the resemblance of its smooth and rough stripes to the smooth texture of milk and the bumpy texture of sugar.[1] Seersucker is woven in such a way that some threads bunch together, giving the fabric a wrinkled appearance in places. This feature causes the fabric to be mostly held away from the skin when worn, facilitating heat dissipation and air circulation. It also means that pressing is not necessary.