That 70s Show

But actually, a thoroughly modern way to wear khaki

Thank you to Me+Em for sponsoring today’s send! All thoughts and outfit ideas, my own.

Uff! What a week. Welcome back to Five Things, a place for you to enjoy your Sunday morning coffee stress free, for a few minutes at least. Giving you a glimpse into my brain this week, of how a story comes together. Because we got to our theme in a roundabout way.

For a while I have been ruminating on how to wear khaki in a way that feels both modern, whatever that means, and grown up. It’s so easy for khaki to go early aughts (think peak crystal-embellished collar necklaces, neon layers, Teen Vogue!) meaning excessive adornment piled on, in an attempt to take khaki out of it’s uniform heritage. No knock on that era, it was extremely influential on my fashion education. But it’s not how I want to wear khaki now. And then of course, the fabric can also easily veer school uniform. Juvenile or cute or overly masculine. I naturally lean toward all of these styling concepts so I find myself having to be extra careful when I reach for a pair of chinos.

With khaki season squarely back upon us, it was time to challenge myself (and us) to update our relationship with the color (and fabric). To do this, I found myself deep in Google archives. It didn’t take long before I hit upon Mr. Yves Saint Laurent himself and his revolutionary (at the time) safari collection. From there, I realized a lot of what I’m gravitating toward leans 70s lately. The ruffles and lace and softer styling pieces. Brown. Big sunnies. No wash denim. Belts!

And then of course, I have been chuckling at all the inbox marketing I’m receiving lately calling to the “office siren” trend that the youth is apparently obsessed with. Honestly I feel bad for them. They never had the opportunity to dress for the water cooler before Covid totally changed their career paths. No wonder they want to play office dress up!

So it was all of these things, floating around in my brain, thrown into the blender with my desire to dust off my khaki pants and skirts and shirts for the season, that brought me to today’s story. The best way dress khaki up at the moment, is to 70s-ify it. Meaning, I want to pair khaki fabric with softer elements. Mix denim with shades of tan and hints of gold. The most modern thing I can do with the fabric, is to look back. My big experiment with this unfolds below.

Pairing it with pink

Pairing khaki with the other big color trend of the year feels softer than the neons of my 20s.

My big Maria McManus khakis with a B Sides sweatshirt, secondhand scores on my feet and shoulder (in the form of a Nancy Gonzalez bag and Chanel cork wedges…Worishofers tho!) topped off with larger than life sunnies by Me+Em in a dusty tan color to bring home this whole idea.

In my research, I saw this picture of Jackie Kennedy (Onassis since we are talking 70s) in a shorter Chanel tweed suit jacket fighting her way through a crowd (and obviously we all associate her with this particular shade pink.) So from her I pulled a refined way to dress up my khaki. You can buy hers if you have $16.5k laying around! For the rest of us, however, outfit credits here: A big 70s dressy Bermuda (these are a size medium by Handvaerk) with gold hued adornments on my belt and shoes (mostly sold out but what about these!?). Jacket is of course, Me+Em. (Size 2 for ref.) I think one of the reasons this works so well, is because the end concept is streamlined. There is one vibrant-skewing-shade but not a lot of other fuss. It’s all pretty crisp and buttoned up with a tight color palette. I truly can’t wait to wear this outfit if and when it ever warms up again in NYC.

With a silky 70s halter top

I started this week’s styling journey with this top, believe it or not. Because the biggest challenge with khaki is not the khaki, BUT WHAT TO PUT WITH IT to adjust its vibe. Khaki is forever. A silky, sexy, 70s halter…is the thing! While I could not imagine actually wearing this workaday-cosplay number to an office on its own, I would and will wear it to some sort of cocktail leaning, business formal thingy. Yet cover it up and it’s a totally beautiful, extremely elegant midtown uniform layer for those who still commute to their 9-5 (or if we are getting real, 9-7.)

Who is she!? I love her confidence! I’ve tried most everything in fashion and yet this is the first time I’ve donned a high neck “halter style” top. Somehow I don’t feel bare in her and its giving me the exact 70s vibe I want to pair my khaki with. I’ll definitely wear her this summer with some of the khaki staples we discussed last spring. How cute would she be with these, a belt and leather flip flops? Here she is with a Vince skirt (double belted with a Refine belt, sold out at the moment but she is nice) and Valentino sandals.

She is somehow just as sexy when I’m showing barely any skin?? I think it’s partly the shine, part draped necktie, buttery draped leather and of course and part high heel. But swap the leather for a cropped black jacket and maybe our favorite little Jimmy Choos and she is a totally comfortable, totally confident work idea.

Also love her with a tailored khaki short. These are brown (I know!) but they hail from the same safari uniform camp as khaki so I’m considering them interchangeable. The slinky little top with a big short is the party proportion I’m here for this spring/summer. I sized up to a 6 in these shorts so they would create this nice A-line shape when I buckled them at my natural waist. Highly recommend doing this. Pairing the blouse and shorts with my Larroude wedges which you’ve seen many times (sold out now, but these would also be great!) a Dehanche belt and vintage Judith Leiber bag I found on TRR.

And to further prove my point on this little top as both the statement that khaki craves and simultaneously just a great little layer…the same outfit covered up with a big brown blazer. This one by Rachel Comey.

When in doubt…safari

Now I can challenge myself to find new ideas in styling khaki all day. But the thing that makes khaki so great, especially in the spring and summer seasons, is it’s uniform quality. It can make getting dressed simpler. The general “classics” in these shades of brown will almost always work, no matter which way the trend winds are blowing. A cotton khaki shirtdress will never be out of style. And can be restyled depending on mood or general air. Henleys, linen shorts, engineer pants, same story! The thing I noticed in my own khaki “classics” styling during this exercise is that I always went back to a black shoe (except for one exception in RED!). Something about the heavy. color and the solid sole make these pieces feel more dressed for my urban jungle life. A Birkenstock or K.Jacques with these outfits bring the whole thing out of city dressing, for me, and into beach mode. Something to consider for those of you who have been brainwashed into khaki requiring a brown shoe! I know some of you personally. :)

Me+Em khaki shirtdress (sleeves rolled an extra two times! size 4 for ref) and sandals (which are padded!!) and a Giuliva Heritage belt, which I ordered for last week’s belt deep dive but didn’t arrive on time. Making up for lost time now though, she is heaven.

A dressed but not not so dressed take on city safari style. Banana Republic men’s henley, Me+Em shorts, (could also work with these pants!), Giuliva Heritage belt, vintage shoes but as we said above…Worishofers!…and Dorsey necklace.

But remember, it doesn’t always need to be about chinos

Khaki is just as much an embrace of brown as it is an embrace of fabrics. A drapey golden tan knit with oversized sunglasses gives me the breezy khaki vibe I’m looking for. As does a silky duster coat with my jeans. Even as I experimented with different fabrications this week, the feminine 70s vibe remained a through line.

Me+Em oversized sunnies top off my Attersee crochet-style knit, Rodebjer skirt and Me+Em sandals. A moment for these sandals. They are padded on the bottom! So comfortable. And the buckle such a nice metal. I just wore them throughout a long weekend trip to the Caribbean and was extremely pleased with myself.

An outfit I would usually pair with little cat eyes or Ray-Bans somehow feels much more dramatic with these Me+Em sunnies, no? Do they make me look taller? :) All styled with Me+Em sandals, a Dries van Noten coat, Re/Done ribbed tank and Giuliva Heritage jeans

Getting a little wild

And to round us out, my fifth and final thought about that whole overstyled khaki of the early-aughts thing. Sometimes it can feel like that era hijacked the fun from this fabric all together. But I still want to use khaki (or technically brown too, if you count the shorts pictured throughout) as a base color for fun. This, again, is where the 70s style tropes come in. There’s the zebra print I paired with the shorts below and then the same Jackie O style tweed paired back to a kilt. I think the key is to keep the number of design elements to a minimum and avoid getting too sparkly. From there…get wild!

How I want to wear khaki to a party right now (if I lived in a more tropical climate, all things considered). These shorts provide a tailored and casual balance to my zebra top and strappy beaded sandals (yes I caved on them…have been lusting over them since the show, can you blame me!?) in a way that denim may leave this outfit feeling a bit too flashy.

And back to my pink/khaki theory…I pushed this jacket a little further and paired it with a kilt. Both elements classic, yet both extremely loud. They offset each other and take both out of vintage territory. The black trim, checks, tank, shoes and necklace make the whole thing not feel too cutesy. I avoided a white t-shirt here (tried it, not good) and any sort of sparkle on the shoe.

And there you have it. The city safari that will carry me through spring. Thanks for processing that with me. <3

Yours TRULY,

Becky