Chino’s at work for men have for decades been a stand-in for casual – but how to wear them properly continues to elude…
There continues to be a “seismic style shift” going on in the professional world and ascending through the ranks often doesn’t depend on wearing a suit. Even Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs has loosened up its dress code to make suits and ties optional, offering further proof that desk jockeys are changing their uniforms. Just look around your office — if you still even work in one” (source Askmen.com)
Let’s define Chinos: a chino is a made-of-cotton casual take on a wool dress pant.
Let’s define Khakis: Khaki is a color. Chino is a style. You can have Purple Chino’s. You don’t “wear” Khaki’s.
So, you want to wear “cotton dress pants” to work like all the other cool kids. Great! But just because you are not wearing wool “dress trousers” doesn’t mean you can’t be conscious of their relationship to your own body.
How your clothing fits, falls and is styled in relation to your body is the science of proportion. You can consider proportion from side to side – that is, horizontally:
Can you picture how wrong skinny leg chinos would be on a massively built or XL man?
Or lets say your feet are larger than might be considered proportional to your body; a super skinny leg will emphasis this.
Proportion can also be vertical (how the body is divided from top to bottom). Men typically are longer torso’d and shorter legged. Ensuring the length of jacket or untucked shirt is the easiest way to assure this balance is correct.
Want some help assuring your pants proportions are right?
I am a Personal Image Consultant and a J Hilburn Stylist
I bring confidence, organization, efficiency to your life.