You may think that in order to wear seersucker you must first stand next to a tennis court, Southside cocktail in hand; but recently I've noticed it making its way into more urban, everyday terrain. The traditional image of seersucker is a suit or jacket made in the run-of-the-mill blue-and-white-striped puckered fabric worn with white bucks and maybe even—God help you!—a straw boater. But more and more I stop when I see seersucker cut-offs, seersucker suits in subdued gray or brown stripes, and even seersucker Converse All Stars.

My interest in the new possibilities of seersucker began at a wedding last spring when I saw a friend wearing a blue-and-white seersucker blazer with orange-and-white seersucker pants! You won't believe me—but he did actually pull it off. And I was even more shocked when I found a picture of artist Max Ernst from the early sixties wearing his striped seersucker jacket with another striped shirt underneath. I'm so sold on the reinvention of this old-school preppy favorite that I even bought my three-year-old son a yellow seersucker blazer (to be worn strictly with a printed T-shirt, dirty sneakers, and cargos in order to tone down the "little man" vibe). My husband was appalled—even in the unexpected color, he can't get past the fusty, preppy connotations. I'm into it though, and more importantly, so are all his toddler sweethearts at the playground.

Andre Balasz (pictured with Kelly Klein) in unconventional beige-and-grey seersucker. NYC, May 2007. (Credit: Patrick McMullan.)

This isn't the first guy I've seen this summer wearing seersucker cut-offs. Bleecker Street, NYC, June 2007.

Hamish Bowles (standing with me)  in brilliantly mismatched seersucker at a wedding in East Hampton, NY, 2006.

German surrealist Max Ernst in a seersucker jacket and striped shirt. The dueling stripes suit him, I think. September 1961. (Credit: Getty Images.)

In theory I think I'd be dubious about a seersucker tie (too gimmicky), but it works on this guy. His fitted shirt, slim trousers, and white sneakers are so current that it reinvents my perception of the tie. Bryant Park, NYC, June 2007.

My interest in James Coburn skyrocketed when I discovered this old picture of him pairing his seersucker with a scruffy beard and bandana. Los Angeles, July 1969. (Credit: Getty Images.)

Leave it to Thom Browne to thoroughly modernize a preppy classic by pairing down the colors to clean black and white. NYC, 2007. (Credit: Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene.)

When I told my sister that I was investigating seersucker, she insisted I look for pictures of the late George Plimpton, her former boss at The Paris Review. I remember meeting George a few times and was always amazed by his laid-back, understated WASP charm. Flushing Meadow Park, NYC, September 1994. (Ron Galella/WireImage.com)

Something about the more narrow jeans and the groovy seventies-looking Gucci loafers save this from being too obviously preppy. Standing of front of graffiti helps too. Mercer Street, NYC, 2007.

My three-year-old son Zachary in his yellow seersucker blazer. England, June 2007.