Recently "rediscovered" khakis after years and years of not wearing them under any circumstances.  Most likely because my parents dressed me in khakis daily in those years before I knew or cared what clothing was.  My longtime aversion to (and probably my relatively recent enjoyment of) the ivy league look is no doubt due to the fact that I was dressed in Ivy as a kid.  It wasn't a calculated effort though, my parents didn't say "here dear, this jacket doesn't have darts and these khakis aren't pleated, put them on."  More like, "hey, he's an American kid and this is what we wore when we were American kids."  My dad is neither trad nor Ivy, but he is devoted to natural shoulders, I remember this from my earliest blazer wearing days on Easter.

Anyway Ivy came back to me piecemeal.  First it was the OCBD. Then ties.  But khakis are back.  I get them tapered and tailored to slim them down, but lounge around the house in the baggier versions.  Wear them with brogues, chucks, or beaten up blue vans.  Won't wear them with top-siders though.  Topsiders with high-water Levis 519 cords (probably the best trou ever made), thats another story.  Never wear chinos in a suit context, prefer plain grey worsteds, even with navy blazers.  I wore a pair of slim chinos, white ocbd, navy knit tie and an olive, red and blue madras blazer to an after-work office gathering once for "casual friday."  Wearing madras in Edinburgh is a trip.  "Like tartan on acid," they said.

Last edited by bandofoutsiders (2008-06-15 12:11:03)

Not wore khaki coloured pants since the late 80's when Levis chino's were fashionable here in the UK. Always had to careful when out on the piss with the boys especially when you had to take a leak, I think you all know what I mean Preferred jeans then and prefer them now...

I love the pure utility and comfort, and low maintenance, of jeans, but jeans were not accommodating of my high-waisted torso until I found Carhartt and Diamond Gusset jeans, which fit me perfectly and comfortably, esp. the Diamond Gusset jeans, allowing me to wear jeans more often.  I recenty had several beautiful pairs of trousers made up, lap seams and the whole bit, from a limited range of John Hardy cloth made specifically for trousers, but, I do love the freedom of wearing jeans and not being concerned about getting them wrinkled and not having to press them.

I haven't worn jeans since I was 14. I've never thought I looked good in them.  I prefer them on girls, and eventually off them.

In all seriousness though I've never felt comfortable in them.  When there's something I need to get dirty doing I either wear old khakis or take out one of my pairs of those WalMart "khakis" called Dickies.  A lot of mechanics wear the blue ones...they are pretty durable.

As for the "going out in light colored pants" problem that doesn't happen to me...don't you guys shake (or wipe) when you're done?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the problem...I second Tony's call for you to expand on that, FNB.

Last edited by Coolidge (2008-06-15 17:13:41)

I'm trying to remember. You could not wear jeans to grade school. I remember I bought a jeans jacket that I had to wear in the locker in my brief stay at prep school. I never wore them in college. In law school circa 1980 suddenly someone invented designer jeans (they had probabaly been invented a couple of years before, this was New England mind you!).
    To me jeans were always kids wear. I know they have been a fashion on occasion since. To me they wuill always mean someone is trying to dress young.
    Jeans fashion is a joke. This is what you wore when you went out and played football with the neighborhood kids.
     You never wore it to dress up. But I never lived in 'Richistan'. The reference is deliberate. I never wore a turned around baseball cap, either.