# Khaki Jeans. . .



## raincoat (Oct 31, 2009)

Now wait! I've never worn khaki jeans and haven't, until recently, considered wearing them. Look at these pictures though:



























































































They don't look half bad, to my eyes at least. The only people I see wearing khaki jeans nowadays are probably the same people who were wearing them in these pictures: middle aged and older people. It's definitely not trad. If you're opposed to jeans at all times (waving to 90% of the trad forum), then you'll be opposed to khaki jeans. But they appear to fit in the preppy category just as well as cord jeans. What do you think?

Pictures from The Trad's Take Ivy scans and Heavy Tweed Jacket's blog.


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## katon (Dec 25, 2006)

Some of the earlier ones may be Sta-Prests, the ancestor to the jean-cut khaki. 

Probably not Trad (polyester and that 70s Ivy vibe don't seem to be too popular here) but definitely part of the Ivy League look. (I didn't think anyone still made them, but it looks like Levi's for the export market.)


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## Taken Aback (Aug 3, 2009)

I have a couple somewhere, as well as some cord jeans, but I usually pass on wearing them. I just never got used to the jean pockets. (short of on jeans)


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## Naval Gent (May 12, 2007)

I've never "taken Ivy", but many of those '80s shots are certainly "five pocket cords". Very narrow wale. Never really my bag, but lots of people wore them, male and female. Beige was a popular color, although they came in every hue in the rainbow.

Mr and Mrs Kappa Sig kill me. Dig that flip hair cut on her, and his yoke down vest. Stuff better forgotten.

Scott


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

Naval Gent said:


> I've never "taken Ivy", bu many of those '80s shots are certainly "five pocket cords".


Maybe, but not necessarily. Of course I don't know if the OP is referring to the color or the fabric when he says "khaki" but I'm assuming he means the fabric. I remember five pocket jeans style khaki (fabric) pants being quite popular back in the mid-80s from companies like Hagar and Levi. In this picture dating from around 1985 or so I'm wearing a pair of brown ones, although given that I was slowly sliding down in the chair (I wonder why), not much is visible. :icon_smile_big:










Cruiser


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## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

When I wore them in college (1968-72) they were marketed as "wheat jeans", a lighter shade than traditional khaki


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## Exquisite Decay (Dec 22, 2009)

raincoat said:


>


Is that duct tape on the left shoe of the young man to the right? One more bit of evidence that the Official Preppy Handbook was a caricature - not fiction, as some friends of mine and occasionally posters on this board have stated.


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## Pgolden (May 13, 2006)

Khaki jeans began being substituted for khakis in the mid 1960s. In fact, I owned several pairs made by Levi's. We wore them to school because at the time blue jeans were prohibited, so we wore jeans that looked like khakis. You also saw them on kids going to temple or church or some other place that required you to be dressed, and they were worn with blue blazer, ocbd, tie and penny loafers.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

To the OP: Wear what you like but, in this instance, the khaki fabric is ever so much more comfortable, when crafted into a nice, loose fitting pair of chinos!  :thumbs-up:


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Naval Gent said:


> Mr and Mrs Kappa Sig kill me. Dig that flip hair cut on her, and his yoke down vest. Stuff better forgotten.
> 
> Scott


The vest can go, but I wouldn't kick her out of bed!!

Ms. Dartmouth is more my type, however.

Levi's used to come in many colors. I had brick and green as well as khaki/wheat.


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## raincoat (Oct 31, 2009)

Katon: You're probably right about some of them being sta-prests.

Exquisite Decay: Good eye, I hadn't noticed that.

eagle2250: I agree with you completely. I was just surprised to see so many jean cut khakis while looking through these pictures.


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## ComboOrgan (Aug 28, 2006)

The ladies seem to prefer the shape of jeans to the shape of khakis

Jean-cut khakis work perfectly for me - jean shape without all that awful denim.


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## Pgolden (May 13, 2006)

Exquisite Decay said:


> Is that duct tape on the left shoe of the young man to the right? One more bit of evidence that the Official Preppy Handbook was a caricature - not fiction, as some friends of mine and occasionally posters on this board have stated.


Bruce Boyer writes about using duct tape on penny loafers as not being uncommon among college students in the 1950s and early 1960s.


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## Saltydog (Nov 3, 2007)

If authenticity is one of the hallmarks of "traditional" attire...then I can attest to there being an abundance of light colored (tan, stone, wheat, khaki, whatever) levis on college campuses in the mid through the late 60's. We wore them with penny loafers and ocbds...windbreakers and v-neck sweaters. I don't really recall if they were lightweight denium or cotton twill...denium I think. I don't recall them being worn with ties and blazers as a substitute for dressier khakis or chinos except on very rare occasions. Levis did come in a vaiety of colors in those days...but the "off-white" ones were by far the most popular of the colors. These pics bring back a lot of memories from my college days in the 60's before "flower power" and the 70's look started influencing everything for a decade to come.


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## vwguy (Jul 23, 2004)

Naval Gent said:


> Mr and Mrs Kappa Sig kill me. Dig that flip hair cut on her, and his yoke down vest. Stuff better forgotten.
> 
> Scott


Yeah, someone please tell her to take my letters off 

Brian


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## Got Shell? (Jul 30, 2008)

I suspect that alot of those are cord jeans. Like anything else, I think khaki jeans could definitely work if done properly. The rest of the ensemble would need to be pretty toned down- pennies or ptb's and an ocbd with sweater would be one option.


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