Khaki is officially The Colour With The Worst Name. I doubt it sounds good in any language and in Estonian, it has an unfortunate poo-connotation that makes pre-teens giggle. To make things worse, nobody really knows what colour khaki is. Is it almost beige? More brownish? A certain green? What’s the difference between khaki and olive? Whatever the exact colour, it’s clear that it’s pretty boring. So on the first glance, khaki doesn’t seem to have much going for it.

Despite all these disadvantages, khaki is an exceedingly useful colour. It would be strange to say that it’s trendy, as it has been an indispensable part of modern casual dressing for a long time. Show me an It-girl without a khaki parka or a fashionable career woman without the J Brand pants and… well, I cannot come up with a suitable metaphor, but I’ll be very surprised. But there are periods when khaki is even more visible than usual (it is similar to denim in that regard).

The last seasons have been one such period and the khaki love is not going anywhere in the near future – it’s the neutral of the moment and these trends have a pretty long life-span, sometimes even in parallel with other neutrals of the moment (it used to be navy ages ago and then camel and then grey). I’m not going to say that khaki works with everything, because NOTHING works with everything, but it does indeed pair well with many colours.

It harmonizes with other neutrals, especially the brown and beige family. It is striking with red and light blue. I spent the entire spring being obsessed with khaki and pastels – they make for a surprisingly convincing combination. You can pair it with crazy patterns like here and it can even act as a backdrop to patterns, as on the scarf on the main image.

At the moment, my favourite ways of wearing khaki are with black and white. The first combination was brought to my attention by Carine Roitfeld (look at that Tom Ford skirt!) and I’m going to keep this one for the autumn. Khaki and white, however, is the perfect Nordic summer pairing, as it’s summery enough, but not excessively beach-y – the latter wouldn’t be useful for most days in these parts. The latest reincarnation of khaki seems to lean more green than beige, a continuation of the success of forest/dark greens that has been going on for a while.

The most traditional way is to wear khaki pants with a white t-shirt, but I encourage you to turn it around, I think it looks fresher. And while we are already quoting Paris Vogue editors as style inspiration (it’s not often you see me doing that), this look is very Emmanuelle Alt. Just google “Emmanuelle Alt white jeans” and you’ll immediately understand what I mean. Or you can swap your parka for a lightweight duster coat that can be worn on its own, belted, as a dress. It would look amazing on a tanned body and with tan accessories.

Khaki also works surprisingly well in make-up, although I do prefer it with some bronze or golden shimmer added. There is no better combination for smudgy rock’n’roll eyes than black pencil and khaki eye shadow. On the nails, it looks modern and interesting, but not flashy.

Pictured:
1. A patterned scarf by Zara
2. A T-shirt and jeans by Zara
3. A duster coat by Zara, off-white cashmere sweater by Galleries de Lafayette
4. Chanel Alchimie nail polish, Charlotte Tilbury Eyes to Mesmerize in Verushka, Laura Mercier mini Caviar Stick in Khaki, Korres Twist eyeshadow in Olive Green.

It was difficult to capture the complexity of the nail polish and eye colours with my iPhone, but they all look beautiful and multifaceted in real life. A light wash of Charlotte Tilbury over your lids is a great cool everyday look. Laura Mercier is very similar in colour, but more intense. Korres is matte and less exciting, but I use it as an alternative to black liner/pencil – great for summer. And the Chanel looks good both on hands and feet: a bit like small, beautiful beetles.