There is a distinct difference between khakis and chinos, though the difference can be slight. Khaki is a color as well as a fabric. Chino is also a fabric, but usually lighter in weight and more formal than khakis. Chinos actually date back to the beginning of the 20th century and were initially purchased by those in the military serving in China.

Khakis were huge in popularity in the 1990s. First through Dockers, a new label by Levi Strauss to address the increasing popularity of dress pants for casual wear. Towards the end though designer khakis from Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger were all the rage. From khakis some men took up chinos or dress trousers, while others went for a formal denimwear look.

Khakis were the first successful attempt at getting men to dress up since the 1950s. They were usually cargo pants, which are khakis with a lot of pockets south of the waist but above the knee. I had a great pair of green cargo pants back in the day that served me well for quite some time until I ended up cutting grass in them.

Those were essentially khakis that were well worn and soft, though still heavyweight. However sicne the nineties it seems that khakis tend to return to popularity every now and again. The last time khakis were popular a few years back they were very high end, and it was nothing to pay over $200 for a pair.

The general rule of thumb is that while the khakis can be broken in and soft, the stitch is the real giveaway. Typically your dress trousers are light enough in that they are stitched in a way that conveals the thread and gives a nice clean appearance that you cannot get with khaki or denim cotton. Another dead giveaway is if someone is usually some other material than cotton to stretch the fabric or prevent fading. Those are either chinos or just plain out cotton trousers.

Keep in mind though that cotton trousers themselves can be rather expensive, often as much if not more than most wool trousers. They can be more because wool is typically reserved for business and utilitarian purposes whereas you can experiment with cotton and be more fashionable. So a nice pair of cotton trousers can actually be more expensive than wool pants, but that doesn't mean that they are either khakis or chinos.

So to sum this up, khakis are typically heavy cotton pants that go anywhere from $15 to $80, while chinos typically pick up from there and go on up to $200 or more. Cotton trousers from high profile fashion designers are almost always more than $200. For what it is worth though, you can wear polyester/rayon blend trousers for a lot less, or wool trousers for like $150 or so and look great. Depending on whether or not you wash the cotton trousers, which usually isn't suggested anyway, they won't fade and will look a lot better. But khakis and chinos are always great to have for those times you want to dress up but still want to be comfortable and not too stuffy; a nice middle ground in fashion.

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