In 1909, Joseph Haspel and his brothers began making lightweight seersucker suits in New Orleans. (The name is derived from "sirsaker", a fabric from India popularly used to make pajamas.) Offered as the only alternative to the bulky, dark suits made of heavy woolens that most men wore at that time, seersucker was first viewed as a poor man's suit as it was light, baggy and always wrinkled. Early on, the garments were delivered by horse and wagon.

Haspel suits eventually gained appeal as southern gentlemen discovered that, though they may have looked rumpled, they actually stayed cool. In fact, by the mid-1920's, seersucker suits, complete with wrinkles, had gained snob appeal from Ivy Leaguers who wore them with the attitude that if you were rich, you could afford to look rumpled.

In the decades of the 1930's, 40's and 50's, Haspel was the fashion choice of celebrities and Presidents: FDR and Truman wore them. In the 1950's movie "Charade", Cary Grant, provoked by Audrey Hepburn, wore one into a running shower, and in "To Kill A Mockingbird", Gregory Peck went to court (and won an Oscar) in a classic Haspel seersucker.

Now approaching 100 years, Haspel continues to be not only fashionable, but "cool" to an entirely new generation. Not only are the seersucker, linen and poplins a popular summer choice, but (Southern gentlemen beware) seersucker jackets are newly trendy over jeans or other casual pants.

eSuit's Haspel Suit page