Khaki: A Brief History

Originally associated with the military and having it’s origin in the 1840s, the word “khaki” itself comes from the Urdu or Hindi word for “soil” or “soil-colored.” It was worn by the Corp of Guides, a regiment of the British Indian Army in the mid-19th century and was later adopted by the U.S. Army beginning in the Spanish-American War. It became worn as civilian clothing following World War II, and the rest is dad style history.

In the seven decades since, khakis have gone from a smart alternative to the standard palette of black, grey, and blue-colored slacks to the default pants for ‘business casual.’ As it stands today, khakis have, in our opinion, become the lazy man’s go-to for casual office style and have come to symbolize lame, staid, WASP-y men’s style uniform. In short, khakis have become BORING.

Well, according to our big brother AskMen, khakis are BACK. While I’m sure they’d agree with us when we say that khakis never left, they’d join us in the opinion that for the past twenty years or so, khakis have become the official non-denim dad pants. To prove that this doesn’t have to be the case and that you CAN look good in them, here are 20 looks to throw together so that you’re not mistaken for someone in a suburban dad costume.

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