Khaki Suits

Q. In a recent response you mentioned “a summer solid khaki suit." My wife and I debated the term "khaki." I was raised wearing "khakis" and they were of various fabrics, usually off-white to dark tan in color; however, my school allowed dark blue "khakis." In modern fashion, khakis are common in business casual attire. Wanting to keep a Professional (with a capital "p") appearance, I have chosen to not have any suits or slacks that are tan of any shade. Wikipedia says that khaki can refer to a color or a fabric. In your context I would assume color. But which one should be assumed in common usage? I don't want to sound completely clueless, but I guess my real question is: What exactly are khakis and what appearance do they give? Thanks in advance. 


A. You do not sound clueless at all. Only a man who is tuned into clothes and what they project about the wearer would have asked it at all. The answer to your question is complicated, because it has a few different parts.

You are correct (and so is Wikipedia) in saying that khaki can refer to a color or a fabric. But it can also refer to a style – casual cotton pants, called “khakis” – which I assume is what was meant at your school when they referred to dark blue “khakis.” While the term “chinos” is sometimes used interchangeably with khakis, I have never before heard the term used for blue pants, no matter what the fabric. What your school probably meant by that was “no jeans.”

As to a definition of khaki, Alan Flusser writes that it is a “Hindi word meaning ‘dust-colored.’ It is a neutral color.” He is, of course, referring only to the color.

When the term khaki refers to color, there is still more than one answer. It includes a range of shades from light off-white through medium tans to darker shades with a hint of olive green. When referring to fabric, it can be all cotton, a cotton blend, or wool. It can be a very light almost shirting-weight cotton, a medium cotton poplin suiting weight, or a heavier cotton twill. It can also be a tropical-weight wool suiting fabric in khaki color, a medium gabardine, or a sturdier wool fabric used in dress pants and known as “cavalry twill.”

Sometimes the term refers to both the color and the fabric, as in a summer khaki suit or year-round khaki dress pants.

Another point. Unless you work in an extremely staid (all-dark suits) business environment, I do not see why you would avoid suits, and especially slacks, in all shades of tan. Tans are less dressy than gray or navy, but not so much that you should exclude them from your wardrobe. If you are a regular reader of my column, you know I have misgivings about the usefulness of owning navy slacks (oddly, they don’t work well with most jackets). So, if you avoid all those versatile tan slacks, you have then narrowed your choices down to nothing but trousers in various shades of gray. The well-regarded combination of navy blazer and khaki pants (though a step more casual than navy blazer and gray pants) is a near essential in a man’s wardrobe.

It is always wise to look for ways to expand what a man has in his closet rather than narrow it down.

How to Coordinate the Colors You Wear

Q.  I don’t think that I am color-blind, but apparently my color judgment is just off. When I match up a tie with a color in my tweed jacket, my girl friend says they don’t go together. Is there a way that I can establish the color in this and other jackets and know which ties (and other clothing) it matches?

A.  There are a couple of possible reasons for your difficulty. One is that you may indeed be that one in every eleven men who statistically is color blind. It does not mean that you cannot distinguish any colors; it more often is just an issue with distinguishing specific colors from others, or you may simply have trouble differentiating between shades. Either of these will make it hard to put colors together well. Here are a few tested, foolproof solutions.   

     

Ask a friend who has good taste – perhaps your girl friend – to spend an hour or so with you, going through your collection of suits, sport coats, shirts, ties, and socks. Arrange them into compatible combinations. Then, on the label of each piece, using an indelible marker, identify its set by number. For example, all shirts and ties that coordinate with blue suit #3 are marked “#3.”

     

An easy trick that works with socks: Buy all your black ones from one manufacturer, your blue ones from another, and browns from a third. Choose brands with some clearly identifiable stitching on the toe. 

      

Since so many men are color-blind, it makes no sense to be embarrassed or to try to hide the fact from the salesman when shopping for clothes. He sees people who are color-blind every day. Ask him, for example, to show you a blue shirt that has no hint of green or purple in it. (That can be a smart strategy even if you are not color-blind.)

    

On the other hand, even people who can differentiate colors may have trouble coordinating them well.  

A common mistake that both men and women make when trying to match or coordinate colors is to examine a tweed jacket or a small-patterned necktie too closely, determining exactly which colors are in the fabric. What you see is not what you get! Instead, the right approach is to step back an arm’s length away at the very least, or better yet, look at the garment from several feet away, What colors does your eye perceive from that distance? You will not be able to distinguish every one of the colors that you find when examining it up close. What you will see is the overall effect created when the colors blend with each other – that is how others perceive it.

 

As examples: a black and white tweed looks gray from a short distance; a blue-and-red small-patterned tie assumes a purple cast from a distance; a red-and-yellow print tie looks orangey-red from several feet away. The blue-and-red tie goes with clothes in blues and grays, and looks terrific with a light blue or pink shirt. The orangey-red tie would look terrible with a pink shirt, but would be perfect with a khaki, tan, or olive suit and perhaps an ivory-colored shirt.    

                                                                                 

Try this experiment to prove that the overall color effect of a pattern changes as you get further from it. Choose a small “goes-with-everything” red-and-blue print tie from your closet. Hold it up in front of a mirror and move backwards. Up close, it is a subtle foulard, appropriate for any business situation. As you move back a bit, the pattern disappears and the tie becomes purple to your eye. Step back even further and from across the room, the tie becomes brown.              

This little exercise illustrates two points. 1.] When selecting a tie in a store or at home, always hold it away from you. 2.] To check the color of a tie you plan to wear for a presentation to a group of people, stand back as far as you can from your mirror. A classic blue-and-yellow small print tie that looks great up close and works well in conservative circles could suddenly become a vivid green tie from a distance and mark you as an overtly flamboyant dresser? Choose colors that are correctly visible from a distance.  

  

Note:  These color guidelines are not limited to dressing rather formally with a necktie. They work as well for casual weekend dressing in sweaters, knit shirts, khakis, and jeans. Because color is such a noticeable part of one’s overall appearance, men who know how to coordinate colors well are generally considered to be great dressers. It is an inexpensive, but very useful, skill.