Can someone please explain khakis?

[Hershey]

Khakis are great, when the weathers nice, for errands, golf, shopping, etc.  Can be worn with pretty much anything, dressed up or down.  Knit golf shirt to blazer and tie.
Jeans on the other hand are better suited to yard work, garage work, cleaning out the basement, etc.  But not for wearing out in public, just like sweats.  Although the "toughskins" my kids used to wear were pretty much bullet proof, and kept their knees from many a scrape.  So they do serve a useful purpose.

 

[faustian bargain]

i call them 'chinos'. i reserve 'khaki' for describing the color.

/andrew - who looks good in chinos, jeans, cords, AND wool trousers.

 

[linux_pro]

I think you have the right to mock whoever you will. I don't apologize because I hate khakis. I also don't apologize for hating the suburbs and accountants (although I don't really hate accountants, they make great drinking partners, kind of make you seem like you have a dynamic personality). It is okay for me to feel that way, it keeps me from falling into that same trap. Hating something requires you to stand for something, to assert your character, and who wants to do that (unless everyone else is)?

I have read that Benjamin Franklin fiercely hated underwear (and wigs). Silly? I don't know, maybe it was the impetus for his move to France where he could freely live without wearing underwear or wigs, a move which saved the American Republic, which was falling apart at the time. Hate is necessary in order to feel love, or to change. Hate is wonderful, it is passion, it is life, it lets you know your blood is circulating. Mr. Franklin hated a lot of things, but he was a brilliant, passionate man who was one of the shining beacons of the Age of Enlightenment. Many of the things we enjoy today would not have been possible without him, eccentricities and all. (For instance, did you know at the time of his death, ol' Ben Franklin had a couple of mistresses, one of whom was only 16?)

It is pathetic that I hate khakis, and yes I know that, but why not hate something as ugly as khakis? They look silly and stupid, at least the cheap Dockers type everyone seems to wear all the time.


And if you are worried about cleaning your wool trousers, here's something I've noticed: If you hand-wash them and hang-dry, they don't shrink and it seems to work pretty well, although I'm not sure if it damages the material. But I have done this for a long time and never really had any problems. I just use a very dilluted soap mixture and gently clean them and it all seems to work out fine.

I only do this if I can't get to the dry-cleaners, although I don't know about dry-cleaning, if it is actually good for your clothing. Every time I go into one of those places and hand my garments to some shifty-looking asian with children running all over in the back, I just wonder what in the hell really goes on in those places. Are those kids cleaning my clothes? Aren't they supposed to be in school? How does this guy manage to make a living charging people only $5 to clean a shirt? Is he taking shortcuts? Does dry-cleaning damage my clothing? Did I remember to lock my door on the way out of the apartment? Did my girlfriend notice the Appreciation I was looking at on my computer the other night, when she came in and I quickly closed the browser window and pretended to be trying to find a duvet cover she keeps whining at me about? All very serious questions, and they make me wonder if dry-cleaning is really such a great idea.

 

[Alias]

The problem with washing wool with water is that the mechanical action of the water interacting with the wool fibers causes them to nap, causing the fabric to shrink. That's why all the guides I've read on how to hand-wash cashmere sweaters with water emphasize the importance of "no squeezing, no wringing." Gently washing wool trousers with water might work, but honestly, I think I'll stick to the cleaners. At $300 a pop, my wool trousers are too expensive to shrink

Yeah I pay that much for trousers, but hey barely anything in the store fits me so these are all MTM/bespoke

 

[globetrotter]

I think you have the right to mock whoever you will.  I don't apologize because I hate khakis.  I also don't apologize for hating the suburbs and accountants

hey LP,

be careful, at 35, I never pictured myself in the burbs, having lived in some vibrant and exciting cities. 3 years later, here I am, mowing a lawn.....

 

[chocoball]

Khaki chinos are not common in Australia??? Where in Australia do you live Marc...the outback??? I've seen as many men in Sydney wearing chinos as in the US.

 

[Bradford]

Every time I go into one of those places and hand my garments to some shifty-looking asian with children running all over in the back, I just wonder what in the hell really goes on in those places.  Are those kids cleaning my clothes?  Aren't they supposed to be in school?  How does this guy manage to make a living charging people only $5 to clean a shirt?

Wow - keep going - perhaps you can find more groups to insult as this thread continues. The people that run my dry cleaners are Mexican, how would you handle that?

As for Benjamin Franklin, it's great that you admire his work and he certainly was a genius when it came to writing and inventing, but if you read the history books, you'll find that most of his time in France was spent socializing and gallivanting about.

According to Doug Wead's "The Raising of a President" during their time in Paris, " French favorite Franklin spent his time making the social rounds, staying up late at night and sleeping late in the morning. Franklin made a good case that he was playing an indispensable role, but John Adams suspected that the famous American was only lazy and untrustworthy."

Bradford

 

[drizzt3117]

I used to wear khakis a bit, but I got totally sick of the khakis and sport shirt business casual uniform that was so prevalent at technology companies in the late 90s, I can't remember the last time I've worn them, I tend to always wear charcoal or black trousers to work when I haven't been wearing a suit...

 

[montecristo#4]

I bought my first pair of jeans in 1995 -- at the age of 24. I was all khakis until then.

In retrospect -- scary.

 

[Stu]

Quote:

(Stu @ Feb. 10 2005,04:27)  But a pair in flat front from Bill's Khakis can be sharp paired with  a royal blue shirt.
I bought these because they seemed well-made, but they wrinkled when I just looked at them, so I exchanged them for wool cavalry twills from Bill's (impervious to wear and can be worn to the office). Can't see why anyone would iron pants (or anything else)-rather use jeans on weekends.
Actually I just bid on a pair of those new sport utility model Bill's which are a wool, cotton blend. Are those the ones you have? How are they?

 

[imageWIS]

Khaki chinos are not common in Australia??? Where in Australia do you live Marc...the outback??? I've seen as many men in Sydney wearing chinos as in the US.

Yeah...Marc doesn't reflect a specific (Australian) cultural thinking, just his own. Just be thankful he doesn't travel well, he could be coming to a city near you.

Jon.

 

[linux_pro]

I don't think I will be mowing lawns in the 'burbs anytime soon. At least, I sure hope not. I love the city, I love everything about it, I love the crackheads who harass me on the street (and I give them money), I love walking anonymous among the hordes of people, I love the beatiful architecture, art and culture, I don't think I'd give up those things for any reason. My girlfriend/fiance feels the same, thank God, so we should be living in the city for some time to come.

I should research the hand-washing thing further. I really hope I'm not damaging my clothes. It just seems like it would be easier on them than dry cleaning.


Bradford -

Benjamin Franklin was absolutely essential in establishing the alliance with France, both in an economic sense and in a military sense. Without the French alliance, the American Republic would have collapsed quickly - many states were in a very sorry state of economic affairs after the Revolution, and the British were simply waiting for those silly colonists to louse things up a bit more before wandering back in and reclaiming their properties.

John Adams was a puritan, and very anti-French, stubborn and stupid as hell. He actually claimed that by creating the alliance with France, Franklin was selling the new Republic to France, and they would all become French subjects. History has proven that idiocy entirely false.

John Adams travelled to France because he was convinced, before even arriving, that Franklin was just partying and not taking care of any real business. The other leading American politicians found him highly annoying, and allowed him to go simply because he would not shut up about it. He repeatedly insulted the French court, and was forced to return to America after insulting the King so greatly that the court refused to speak further with any American, and was prepared to dissolve all ties with the struggling new Republic. It was Benjamin Franklin who was forced to clean up the mess John Adams made on his trip to France, and it angered Mr. Franklin so severely that he remained bitter about the experience for the rest of his life, and wrote that the jackassed lack of diplomacy in American politics would eventually cause its collapse. He was almost right (and maybe he was right... we are doing a dandy job of alienating most of the world currently).

Even if you were to discount all the writings of the time regarding the situation (99% of which stated exactly what I just said above, about John Adams being an annoying ass and causing no end of trouble in France), history speaks for itself. Benjamin Franklin remained in France, and was able to maintain an absolutely crucial alliance with France through ongoing diplomacy. John Adams showed up uninvited, created all sorts of trouble, and was immediately dismissed, both by Franklin and the French court. The French king also asked that America please not send anyone else to work with the court shortly after John Adam's departure.

Yes, Benjamin Franklin was a party animal. That was my point. By his very nature, and brilliant intelligence, he was able to stabilize a Republic that was in such chaos, it is miraculous that it was able to survive even a month. It was his popularity with the French court that allowed America to establish international trade, develop its first major military alliance, and prevent invasion by the British Crown. Would you dismiss all this? Are you saying that Franklin did no more than carouse in France?

Whatever you may believe about Franklin, his enduring legacy and amazing wit will continue to remain the upmost example of American ingenuity, while John Adams will continue to remain a forgotten footnote, a bitter little puritan with much less impact on the history of our great Republic.

Who do most Americans think of when they think of our Founding Fathers? Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Washington, and Payne. (I know there were others but most Americans are not familiar with them)

Excepting Washington, these men and their brilliant rebellious beliefs kindled the fire that was later to be known as the Age of Enlightenment, quite possibly the greatest evolutionary stage in Western history. And if you were to speak with any history buff, anyone like me who is completely and totally in love with that age, you would find very little debate that Benjamin Franklin (bald-headed, womanizing, party animal that he was) was undoubtedly one of the most influential men of that entire movement.

Even with the constant heated (and sometimes fatal) debate that raged between the great minds of the American Republic, Benjamin Franklin remained the most admired of all, and he often used his universal appeal to unify the more feisty elements of the fledgeling republic. You might recall that it was a certain Mr. Franklin who was required to get all those yahoos together for their first Constitutional Convention. Without his support, you would not even have an American Constitution. His diplomatic skill repeatedly saved the hide of the American Republic.

So he was a party animal. And he hated wigs and underwear. But he was absolutely essential to the establishment of the Republic. There has never been an American with as much charisma, and such great intellectual and cultural influence worldwide, as Benjamin Franklin. He was the first, and ultimate, American gentleman.

 

[gregory]

I know saying this will get me killed in this forum but here goes; I think there's a certain innocence and charm in wearing well-fitting stone-colored khakis with your Ralph Lauren button-down shirt with the horsey logo. Perhaps I have long ago bought into Ralph Lauren's idealized universe. But come on guys... frankly, despite all the sartorial elegance that we deal with in this forum, the standards of male attractiveness worldwide, especially from a female's perspective, lies somewhere in between the worlds of Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie and Fitch.

 

[drizzt3117]

linux, I'd recommend reading the following book about Adams, one of the best biographers of the modern era IMO. http://www.amazon.com/exec....=507846 He wrote a great biography of Truman as well.

 

[linux_pro]

Thanks.. I'll check it out. I don't really hate Adams, and my comments were a little harsh against him. But he did make an absolute ass out of himself in France. I love Truman, that guy was a real character, he has always been one of my personal heroes. I think Truman was really the last president with any balls. Did you know that he supported desegregation of public schools and it almost cost him his career? Some reporter was grilling him about civil rights issues (the guy was a racist), and Truman just tore into him, and basically asked the guy how we could call himself an American if he believed that certain Americans should not be allowed the most basic freedoms. He basically said something like, Do you not believe all Americans deserve freedom? If you do, why ask me such a question? I gotta look that quote up.