Khakis/chinos To crease or not to crease

[bumphrey hogart]

This may well have been covered before but I did a search and couldn't find anything .
Under what circumstances if any would you crease a pair of khakis,are there any rules regarding this that anyone is aware of?
I've worn khakis/chinos for years,tending to substitute them for jeans which I never wear. Unaware of the makes that are closer to the original I've just worn dockers and the like,always worn flat front and never creased.
Having come across interesting posts,but no mention of this area,I was wondering if there are any guidelines,obviously if this has already been discussed I'd appreciate a pointer.

 

[Benny Holiday]

My chinos are flat front, and I don't crease them. I treat/wear them like jeans. I suppose it might be different if I wore
pleated chinos that looked a bit more dressy. Mine get a real battering, they're pants for working hard in.

 

[bumphrey hogart]

I've always treated them exactly the same,but I was more wondering how they would have been treated.If you spend the money on a proper pair you're not going to use them to do an oil-change on the car,and I don't know about you but if I get something vintage or good repro I at least like to know how it would have been worn,even if I decide not to wear it the same myself.
I've also thought,as you mention,whether you reserve creasing for pleated,but then that begs the question,who wore pleated and who wore flat front and which were creased and why,etc,etc.

 

[Duck]

Most of mine are creased, but I have some that I don't crease, however I wear mainly pleated chinos. I find the pleated more comfortable and my wife likes the pleated better. That was all the motivation I needed. Chinos are my everyday wear, as most of the guys where I work wear them everyday.

 

[PADDY]

I starch a crease in, that you could cut yourself on. It puts the CUT into "cutting a dash!"

 

[vintage68]

I'd say no to the crease. To my mind the chino is a casual trouser, and putting a crease in them is akin to putting a crease in jeans. Unnngh.

 

[dnjan]

To me, creased khakis give a kind of ex-military appearance (which I consider good).

 

[resortes805]

I crease the khakis that hold starch pretty well: Dickies, Ben Davis, Buzz Ricksons, vintage army khakis, etc. I have an old pair of soft surplus khakis that just don't feel right with a crease, so I leave 'em unpressed.

 

[SGT Rocket]

I leave all of mine uncreased, and I use flat fronts. It's just that I'm kind of lazy when it comes to ironing.

 

[Alex Oviatt]

Most of mine are pleated and yes, they have sharp creases. The only one i might not press/crease are a pair of flat fronts I have.

 

[Edward]

I starch a crease in, that you could cut yourself on. It puts the CUT into "cutting a dash!"

Spray starch, iron on?

 

[bumphrey hogart]

It seems we're veering towards, pleated:creased, flat front:not, any agreement on this?

 

[Mr Badger]

I don't even iron. With my K1s, the third day in is when they start to look pretty snat — unfortunately, by that stage they've started to collect stains...

However, I have to say that the finest pair of chinos I've ever seen is one that a very close friend of mine from Texas owns — from what I remember, they were his dad's and have been pressed, starched, dry cleaned and otherwise laundered until they're more akin to sharkskin in sheen and hand! Awesome! But a one-off, methinks...

 

[TheStig]

Flat front and no crease over here!

 

[Minnesota Marco]

I prefer to iron these pants. But I am flexible only to the extent that it would depend on what is being worn with the chinos/khakis. A polo shirt and deck shoes? Then you don't necessarily have to crease the pants, so long as they don't look like they've been slept in. A dress shirt and smooth leather loafers, then break out tbe iron. Navy blazer? Starch em.

 

[DougC]

I'm a flat front-no crease-send them to the cleaners for some great starch-kinda guy. I wear them to court with a tweed blazer and gunboats when I can get away with it.

 

[Michaelshane]

Crease.

 

[Big_e]

I crease my pants.
Ernest