Above: Peter Biava sizes up the field in his seersucker. Below, descending: George Pappas and Ashley Blackburn looking very springy at the Paddock. Taj Grills in his favorite fabric. Photos by Rich Copley.
I am now officially ashamed of myself for abandoning my seersucker suit.
When the day started, it was overcast, it had just stopped raining and there was a chilly breeze in the air. It just didn't feel like seersucker weather.
But clearly, that was not a unanimous decision.
Every corner I turned, there were men in their seersucker, looking cool as the temperature rose.
"It's a perfect fit with the Derby," said George Pappas of San Francisco. "It compliments a spectacular event and the beautiful lady on your arm," he added, his beautiful lady being Louisvillian Ashley Blackburn, who will graduate from UK tomorrow.
"I don't feel dressed up," Taj Grills, who lives outside Avon Lake, Ohio, said. 
His affection for seersucker extends to shorts and casual shirts, and he apparently has several suits in his closet, saying he might break out a red one next year.
Notre Dame Student Peter Biava grew up going to the track with his dad and says, "I never wear anything but a suit to the track, and at the Kentucky Derby, you've gotta wear seersucker and a bow tie."
Point taken. Next time, I'll wear seersucker, even if it's snowing.
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