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Seersucker, perhaps the South's finest contribution to menswear, is winning young admirers, male and female, who have shown an appreciation for vintage style and the elegance of the '40s and '50s. David Granger, author of The Style Blog at Esquire.com, was rapturous this spring about finding an unlined seersucker jacket to wear to a Kentucky Derby-day party he was co-hosting. He coordinated it with white jeans, a linen shirt, and a blue knit tie, calling his Fifth Avenue foray "one of the most successful shopping experiences of my life." Youthful women's lines such as Juicy Couture, Anthropologie and Shoshanna have created charming seersucker sun dresses, shorts, jackets, skirts and even bikinis this spring. The fabric appears in casual separates for men and women by Vineyard Vines, Lacoste and Banana Republic. Of course, seersucker is a standby at traditional menswear retailers such as Jos. A. Bank at Oak Court Mall, where the recent sweltering heat has spurred sales of the suits in blue and white and tan and white. There's also a new hybrid suit, half cotton, half wool, that resembles seersucker stripes, but in a heavier weight. The tropical-weight one is $595. Attorneys and older men have always worn it, but "it's the younger generation now that have really embraced it," said manager Kari Hopkins. Young Washingtonians have been awash in puckers with their "Seersucker Socials," annual lawn parties begun two years ago where women don vintage frocks and men wear seersucker jackets or shorts with straw fedoras, pink bow ties, sunglasses and other rakish accessories.