The best khakis for you from head to toe feature innovative designs and elegant engineered textiles.
The craze for khaki moves this enduring favorite front-and-center for the current fashion season.
Whether you want a khaki suit or a few accents, such as a khaki belt, handbag, or hat, here’s how to mix and match this storied fabric for stylish combinations.
Look for Unique Touches
When shopping for your best khakis, look for something a little different in a blazer.
For example, khaki with a slight check, fabric with a tone-on-tone stripe, or distinctive styling, makes a garment unique.
The varied colored shades add flexibility for teaming your garment with another khaki brand.
Women’s denim jackets may come in khaki, indigo, or blue jeans, blue, white, black, and other colors as well.
Avoid Mis-Matched Hues; Use Contrast
Mix and match colors of distinctively different hues when you make an ensemble of the best khakis from different clothing lines.
Khaki pants with a slight yellow cast may not look good with a jacket that is a shade toward tan.
Some shades of khaki may appear slightly green when worn against an uncomplimentary hue.
Instead, the best how-to dress advice is to mate with two different color groups, such as light tan pants with a camel jacket or a smart near-off-white jacket with stone-gray khaki pants.
Fabric Blends Are Ironing Free
Women’s khaki pants incorporate stretch fabrics for added fit and wrinkle-free drying.
Some name brands adapt these go-everywhere slacks to the curvy figures of contemporary women.
Khaki slacks may be worn for a business-casual dress and belong in the closet of any woman building a women’s casual clothing wardrobe.
The history of textiles offers clues as to why this fabric seems to be everywhere and used for everything.
Khaki Started as Military Wear
Historical sources agree that khaki fabric originated when British soldiers, colonizing India, started dying white uniforms a more durable dusty color.
Everything from mud to tea provided tints. No wonder today’s best khakis vary from near-green to off-white.
Khaki Is Word for Both a Color and A Type of Cloth
Eventually, the fabric descriptions of chino or twill dropped out of use.
Now your best khakis may be cotton or a fancy blend, such as silk-linen, in one of a range of beige colors that are popularly called khaki.
There are three social factors that combine to make khaki the spring-summer fabric of choice.
Why We’re Crazy for Khaki Right Now
Interest in military-styled women’s wear has spiked during the decade of U.S. military engagement in the Mid-East.
The first reason we are crazy for khaki is that we’ve been living in a society consumed with its military goals since 2001. This cloth’s military roots in the history of textiles make it a timely fashion statement.
Second, khaki never goes out of style. In a recession when so many of us are worried about expenses, the best khakis offer you timeless fashion.
Third, khaki cotton twill is a durable, washable fabric. It offers economic benefits by avoiding dry-cleaning costs, and cotton twill clothing will last several years without going out of style.
Some looks, such as the khaki or wool trenchcoat inspired by World War I and II, never wander far from mainstream style tastes.
Details Make Best Best Khakis Unique
If you can’t find or can’t afford one of this season’s khaki suits, buy a jacket, shirt, or accessories to update wardrobe items you already own.
Find something a little different or off-beat to stand out from the crowd.
For example, some jackets and shirtdresses offer such features of military-inspired style as epaulets, gold buttons, or a double-breasted closure.
Make a cheap dress look expensive by changing cheap buttons for fancy, military-inspired brass ones, for example.
Coordinate Colors and Accessories
Complement your women’s khaki pants with coordinating shoes. Even all-purpose Crocs is crazy for khaki. Or try sporting a khaki watchband.
Spice up a muted ensemble with a red belt, red hatband, or khaki handbag with red trim or colorful imprinted pattern.
You’ll have another winning look when you team khaki with a flattering color of the current fashion season. Use blouses, shirts, sweaters, handbags, and belts to spice up your neutrals.
If you’re crazy for khaki, preview the next great neutral with this selection of charcoal and gray sweaters. Gray can be kinder to older skin that has lost its dewy youthfulness than stark, harsh black.
Iskra Banović is our seasoned Editor-in-Chief at BlueFashion. She has been steering the website's content and editorial direction since 2013. With a rich background in fashion design, Iskra's expertise spans across fashion, interior design, beauty, lifestyle, travel, and culture.
