For example, take slacks and khakis. These two pants are not the same thing —though they have a few similarities. You can, for example, style both khakis and slacks using similar apparel pieces, footwear, and accessories.
Sometimes you can even mix the term slacks with chinos or khakis but that wouldn’t be accurate as slacks don’t need to be cotton fabric pants, while chinos or khakis main feature is the cotton fabric used to tailor them. If this is what you already wanted to know, check our online 3D designer to create the perfect custom slacks online.
Khakis play a role in this confusion, especially in an age when dark denim jeans are often considered appropriate in certain semi-formal settings. The term “dress pant” is generic, with multiple sub-categories of trousers potentially fulfilling the definition. Understanding the difference between terms helps to look appropriate in any situation.
Men’s fashion is filled with confusing terms, making it unclear to many when to wear what type of pant. Khakis play a role in this confusion, especially in an age when dark denim jeans are often considered appropriate in certain semi-formal settings.
Are slacks and dress pants the same thing?
To be quite honest, when it comes down to slacks vs. dress pants, the term “slacks” has simply become an outdated term referenced more commonly by generations born in the earlier half of the 20th century.
Slacks, of course, are pants. But so are jeans, khakis, chinos, and (hopefully) the bottom half of your suit. All of these items also fall under the category of “trousers,” which is the favorable term for “pants” said by our UK neighbors across the pond.
Why is it called slacks and not jeans?
Hence, when the term was much later applied to menswear, it came to mean pants that were not too tight and hung freely. Cut to ye i. Phone times and slacks generally refer to pants that are neither jeans nor chinos, but rather a pant made of a smooth, wool knit or a blended fabric that one would wear to look more dressed up than casual.
You should be thinking “Why do they call it slacks?”
That’s because this word used to refer to the seat of your pants, presumably because sitting down multiple times stresses the fabric here and can make it loose or slack. This is an archaic word, however, and “slacks” has not been used to refer to this since the late 1800s.
Can you wear slacks with a blazer?
So, just like with formal pants, they can be worn with your variety of suit separates, in combination with a matching blazer, dressed down with a T-shirt and matching blazer, and worn with or without a belt. Sounds a bit like dress pants, no?