National Seersucker Day: 28 lawmakers don their stripes and snap the photo

OPINION:

And so the stripes return.

Thanks to a Louisiana Republican, the old bipartisan tradition of National Seersucker Day has been formally reinstated as of Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Rep Bill Cassidy made the proclamation in May for a return to the practice of wearing seersucker suits in the hallowed halls of Congress — a tradition established in 1996 by then-Sen. Trent Lott.

It was abandoned two years ago.

But in midweek, 28 members of Congress saw fit to don their lightweight summer suits to celebrate the occasion, and pose for a photo. And if tradition holds, the old ways call for members of the House to wear their seersucker on Wednesdays, with senators on stripe duty on Thursdays.

“Seersucker suits came out of Louisiana, so it’s appropriate that Rep. Bill Cassidy brings back the tradition,” Mr. Lott said.

“I am proud to have brought together dozens of Members of Congress, of both parties, to celebrate what is now an American tradition manufactured by American workers. It’s more than puckered striped suits — it’s Capitol Hill camaraderie,” Mr. Cassidy notes.