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The Rise and Fall of Khaki (2016)

18 points by elemeno 9y ago

mikekij 9y ago
No one told VCs apparently.
- cowardlydragon 9y ago
  aaa
acconrad 9y ago
What world is this author living in? I see khaki all of the time. It's the most common material for shorts (jean shorts may be on the rise, but the go-to fabric is still cotton/cotton-khaki) and it's a prep staple here in the northeast (anyone wearing Nantucket Red? it's dyed over a khaki fabric). Also I'm aware this will make me sound like a snobby sartorialist, but anyone who thinks of 7 For All Mankind is premium denim, especially if that someone writes for a fashion blog, is not someone I want to take fashion advice from. Overpriced, yes, premium, certainly not. Actual premium denim would be RRL, Iron Heart, or any of the other Japanese workwear outfits specializing in heavy selvedge raw denim.
- thrav 9y ago
  To be fair to the author, the article is a year old and fashion can move fairly quickly. As you say, Khaki hasn't gone anywhere for the majority of the population that doesn't care about clothing, but perhaps more interesting is the fact that it's now on the rise in a big way with people who do. Clean, dark denim is falling out of favor and people are shifting to chinos. Neither khaki, nor denim, are ever going anywhere for long. They may fall out of fashion after over-saturation occasionally, but they'll always be back.
- gnopgnip 9y ago
  The article is from a women's point of view. For women, khaki is much less common now than it was 10 years ago. 7 for all mankind is a premium denim for women. Heavy selvedge denim is a niche market and not representative of all premium denim
onychomys 9y ago
Between this and the recent article bemoaning cargo shorts, literally everything I own offends the fashion gods, I guess. :(
- frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
  You're just so far ahead of the curve, these people can't see it yet. :P
  - sevensor 9y ago
    I still have some heavy-duty plaid shirts from the '90s. I wear them whenever the weather is cold. I think plaid came back around a year or two ago because I was getting complements on them for a while.
  - onychomys 9y ago
    Story time: in 1999, I transferred from the University of Wyoming down to U. of Arizona. The Friday before classes were to begin down there, I went walking around campus, so I'd have an idea of where I should go and timing and all that. I was an "Ecology and Evolutionary Biology" major, and so I needed to find the EEB building. I didn't have a map, so I had to look at the big maps on pillars that were located around campus and get a general idea of where things were, then try to head in the right direction and hope for the best. Anyway, I was having some trouble finding the building. I was wandering around, somewhat lost, when suddenly I saw two middle-aged guys coming out of a building wearing khaki shorts, khaki shirts, and floppy khaki fishing hats. I thought, "Ah! Those look like ecologists!", and of course they were. Only us and the geologists would ever have dressed that way. It's like a field work uniform!
sevensor 9y ago
> Men in khakis look like frat boys and youth group ministers from Tennessee I wear khaki every day. I wonder which I resemble. Contrary to the author's assertion, I don't iron my khakis. Literally nobody cares if they're wrinkled. Plus, they're coffee-colored, which is a bonus because I occasionally spill coffee on my lap. Also, where on earth do you find comfortable denim? It's hot, it's stiff, and it wears out instantly. The popularity of canvas mining trousers never ceases to amaze me. Khaki is comfortable, socially acceptable, and inexpensive. Why would I ever stop wearing it?
- throwanem 9y ago
  I mean did you see the picture that immediately precedes that quote? If whoever wrote this also chose that photo as an exemplar of style, I have to figure that by itself is pretty good prima facie evidence that the woman has no taste.
  - sevensor 9y ago
    > I mean did you see the picture that immediately precedes that quote? Nope, this is what I get for using w3m :) I was probably not the target demographic for this article at any rate! Guess I shouldn't be commenting on articles about fashion without looking at the pictures.
    - throwanem 9y ago
      I hear it's not a problem if you use w3m in rxvt or xterm, or on the console. But you're not missing much in this case!
StevePerkins 9y ago
I understand that fashions wax and wane, and that khaki slacks might not be as haute couture (or whatever) in 2017 as they were in 1997. However: (1) They're still ubiquitous in most office workplaces. Perhaps not for the HN crowd here, but certainly out in the real world. (2) I'm sure the fashion trend pendulum will swing back around eventually. The author's argument to the contrary is basically, "Khaki's require an iron, and millennials don't own irons". I don't know if that assumption about iron-ownership is true or not, but I do know that wrinkle-free khakis have been the norm for 30 years now. Where are you buying slacks that still need ironing?
- L_Rahman 9y ago
  From the store that explicitly does not sell non-iron khakis because they have a sheen and texture that many find unappealing.
  - StevePerkins 9y ago
    (shrug) I guess that must be the same store that sells blue jeans for $200 or more, instead of around $50 or less. I wouldn't really know. Man, I'm glad I'm not in my 20's anymore.
- watwut 9y ago
  HN crowd lives in a real world, as real as any other crowd. It may be different then your crowd, they might be minority if you count in whole world, but it is real world anyway.
minikites 9y ago
>The thing about khaki is that it’s not something specifically dated like low-rise bellbottoms or t-shirts emblazoned with vintage road signs; it’s simply a fabric. Khaki is a color, the fabric is chino and it can be dyed many colors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chino_cloth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chino_cloth I know this seems like a minor nitpick but it's hard to take the rest of the points seriously with such a major misunderstanding of the basics.

18 points by elemeno 9y ago

mikekij 9y ago

No one told VCs apparently.

cowardlydragon 9y ago
aaa

acconrad 9y ago

What world is this author living in? I see khaki all of the time. It's the most common material for shorts (jean shorts may be on the rise, but the go-to fabric is still cotton/cotton-khaki) and it's a prep staple here in the northeast (anyone wearing Nantucket Red? it's dyed over a khaki fabric). Also I'm aware this will make me sound like a snobby sartorialist, but anyone who thinks of 7 For All Mankind is premium denim, especially if that someone writes for a fashion blog, is not someone I want to take fashion advice from. Overpriced, yes, premium, certainly not. Actual premium denim would be RRL, Iron Heart, or any of the other Japanese workwear outfits specializing in heavy selvedge raw denim.

thrav 9y ago
To be fair to the author, the article is a year old and fashion can move fairly quickly. As you say, Khaki hasn't gone anywhere for the majority of the population that doesn't care about clothing, but perhaps more interesting is the fact that it's now on the rise in a big way with people who do. Clean, dark denim is falling out of favor and people are shifting to chinos. Neither khaki, nor denim, are ever going anywhere for long. They may fall out of fashion after over-saturation occasionally, but they'll always be back.
gnopgnip 9y ago
The article is from a women's point of view. For women, khaki is much less common now than it was 10 years ago. 7 for all mankind is a premium denim for women. Heavy selvedge denim is a niche market and not representative of all premium denim

onychomys 9y ago

Between this and the recent article bemoaning cargo shorts, literally everything I own offends the fashion gods, I guess. :(

frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
You're just so far ahead of the curve, these people can't see it yet. :P
- sevensor 9y ago
  I still have some heavy-duty plaid shirts from the '90s. I wear them whenever the weather is cold. I think plaid came back around a year or two ago because I was getting complements on them for a while.
- onychomys 9y ago
  Story time: in 1999, I transferred from the University of Wyoming down to U. of Arizona. The Friday before classes were to begin down there, I went walking around campus, so I'd have an idea of where I should go and timing and all that. I was an "Ecology and Evolutionary Biology" major, and so I needed to find the EEB building. I didn't have a map, so I had to look at the big maps on pillars that were located around campus and get a general idea of where things were, then try to head in the right direction and hope for the best. Anyway, I was having some trouble finding the building. I was wandering around, somewhat lost, when suddenly I saw two middle-aged guys coming out of a building wearing khaki shorts, khaki shirts, and floppy khaki fishing hats. I thought, "Ah! Those look like ecologists!", and of course they were. Only us and the geologists would ever have dressed that way. It's like a field work uniform!

sevensor 9y ago

> Men in khakis look like frat boys and youth group ministers from Tennessee I wear khaki every day. I wonder which I resemble. Contrary to the author's assertion, I don't iron my khakis. Literally nobody cares if they're wrinkled. Plus, they're coffee-colored, which is a bonus because I occasionally spill coffee on my lap. Also, where on earth do you find comfortable denim? It's hot, it's stiff, and it wears out instantly. The popularity of canvas mining trousers never ceases to amaze me. Khaki is comfortable, socially acceptable, and inexpensive. Why would I ever stop wearing it?

throwanem 9y ago
I mean did you see the picture that immediately precedes that quote? If whoever wrote this also chose that photo as an exemplar of style, I have to figure that by itself is pretty good prima facie evidence that the woman has no taste.
- sevensor 9y ago
  > I mean did you see the picture that immediately precedes that quote? Nope, this is what I get for using w3m :) I was probably not the target demographic for this article at any rate! Guess I shouldn't be commenting on articles about fashion without looking at the pictures.
  - throwanem 9y ago
    I hear it's not a problem if you use w3m in rxvt or xterm, or on the console. But you're not missing much in this case!

StevePerkins 9y ago

I understand that fashions wax and wane, and that khaki slacks might not be as haute couture (or whatever) in 2017 as they were in 1997. However: (1) They're still ubiquitous in most office workplaces. Perhaps not for the HN crowd here, but certainly out in the real world. (2) I'm sure the fashion trend pendulum will swing back around eventually. The author's argument to the contrary is basically, "Khaki's require an iron, and millennials don't own irons". I don't know if that assumption about iron-ownership is true or not, but I do know that wrinkle-free khakis have been the norm for 30 years now. Where are you buying slacks that still need ironing?

L_Rahman 9y ago
From the store that explicitly does not sell non-iron khakis because they have a sheen and texture that many find unappealing.
- StevePerkins 9y ago
  (shrug) I guess that must be the same store that sells blue jeans for $200 or more, instead of around $50 or less. I wouldn't really know. Man, I'm glad I'm not in my 20's anymore.
watwut 9y ago
HN crowd lives in a real world, as real as any other crowd. It may be different then your crowd, they might be minority if you count in whole world, but it is real world anyway.

minikites 9y ago

>The thing about khaki is that it’s not something specifically dated like low-rise bellbottoms or t-shirts emblazoned with vintage road signs; it’s simply a fabric. Khaki is a color, the fabric is chino and it can be dyed many colors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chino_cloth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chino_cloth I know this seems like a minor nitpick but it's hard to take the rest of the points seriously with such a major misunderstanding of the basics.