seersucker

thumb|Blue and white is a common seersucker color combination.

Seersucker, hickory stripe or railroad stripe is a thin, puckered, cotton fabric, usually striped or chequered, used to make clothing for hot weather. The word originates from the Persian words and , literally meaning "milk and sugar", from the gritty texture ("sugar") on the otherwise smooth ("milk") cloth. This lightweight silk originated in India and was introduced to the wider world from there. Seersucker is woven in such a way that some threads bunch together, giving the fabric a wrinkled or puckered appearance. This effect is often achieved during weaving by feeding the warp threads for the puckered bands at a greater rate than the warp threads of the smooth stripes. (These are often of different colors but do not need to be.) The unevenness causes the fabric to be mostly held away from the skin rather than being plastered on it when wet with sweat, facilitating heat dissipation and air circulation. It also means that ironing is not necessary.