My February Resolution? I’m done with chinos. I’ve said it before, but this time I mean it. I’m going to stop trying to make them look cool, and stop forcing myself into believing I can make them work. It’s just too hard.
I made the decision this morning as I was browsing through M+O’s new offering of chinos and almost got sucked in, again.
Chinos have to fit perfectly. Because of the heft of the fabric there is less room for error with chinos than with jeans. Too baggy and you look WAY slobby. They have to be perfectly slim fitting. But even when they fit perfectly, they still don’t look right. That’s why chinos are so evil.
The problem is that chinos are supposed to fill that weird gap between jeans and trousers. The only problem is that they do it so poorly, you might as well just opt for the other choices.
You always end up looking *too* preppy. Too shiny. While PG strives to look clean and put together, there’s always a hint of attitude thrown in. Even if it’s in the subtle pairing of colors or textures. With chinos, you don’t have that. There’s no grunge, no character. It’s like you stepped right out of a Gap ad. It’s too vanilla.
But, dear reader, you may say “wait, what about those great JCrew outfits in their catalogs?” Lies. All of them. They look fantastic on paper, but in practice it’s almost impossible to pull off without looking like you actually work at JCrew. It’s too contrived.
Chinos are not stylish.
Phew. There. I’ve said it.
i came to this conclusion two years ago for myself (as a woman)…they always remind me (on both sexes) of the “first-job-high-school-student-uniform”. and let’s be honest: those first jobs in high school are never good. coincidence…?