Lightweight chinos for hot weather and travel

On a hot day, jeans are about the worst trousers you can wear. Denim is heavy, it holds heat, and it takes hours to dry. Shorts are fine until the restaurant, the office or the flight says otherwise. Lightweight chinos sit in between: cool enough for the heat, tidy enough for most of the places you’ll go.

What makes a chino light

Chinos are traditionally cut from cotton twill. It’s the same diagonal weave as denim, but finer and lighter, and dyed after weaving rather than woven from indigo yarn. A regular chino is fine for spring and autumn. For real heat you want something lighter, and both the label and the feel of the cloth will tell you whether you’ve found it.

The weight. Hold the fabric up to the light. A summer chino should feel thin and supple, not stiff. If the maker lists a cloth weight, lighter is cooler.

The weave. Twill has the diagonal ribbing you can see and feel. Cooler options include:

• Poplin, a plain weave that is smooth, thin and cool against the skin.
• Seersucker, cotton woven with puckered stripes that hold the cloth away from your body so air can move.
• Looser, more open weaves, which breathe better than tight ones.

The fibre. Cotton is comfortable and breathable but slow to dry. Linen is cooler and dries faster, but it creases the moment you sit. A cotton and linen blend gives you some of linen’s coolness with fewer creases. A little elastane helps on long journeys, and some synthetic “performance” chinos will dry overnight after a wash in a hotel sink.

Why they make good travel trousers

On a trip, chinos earn their space in the bag:

• They’re light and pack small, especially rolled.
• One neutral pair works with a T-shirt for walking and with a shirt and loafers for dinner.
• Cotton-linen and synthetic blends dry much faster than denim.
• They’re comfortable to sit in for hours, which matters more on planes and trains than anywhere else.

The thing to watch is creasing. Pure cotton and linen will crease in a suitcase. Hang them in the bathroom while you shower and most of it drops out.

Fit

Baggy chinos look sloppy however good the fabric is. Tight ones are hot. Aim for a straight or gently tapered leg with a little room through the thigh, so the fabric doesn’t cling when you sweat.

Summer chinos look best a little shorter than winter trousers. A hem with no break, just touching the top of the shoe, or a neat turn-up ending at the ankle bone keeps the look light and suits loafers and trainers worn with no-show socks. If you buy them long, a tailor can shorten them easily. Ask them to keep the original hem width so the leg doesn’t flare.

Colours that stay cool

Light colours reflect more sunlight, so they feel cooler in direct sun. They also look right in summer in a way that dark trousers don’t.

• Stone, sand and khaki go with almost everything and hide dust.
• Light grey is a little more formal and works with white, blue and navy.
• Off-white or ecru looks sharp with navy and brown, if you can keep it clean.
• Pale blue, sage or dusty pink make good second or third pairs once the neutrals are covered.

Navy and olive are still useful in the heat, especially in the evening, and they forgive stains better than anything pale. For more on building a set of colours, see which chino colours to buy, and in what order.

Shoes and the rest

Light trousers look odd with heavy shoes. Leather loafers, suede shoes, canvas or clean leather trainers and espadrilles all suit the weight of a summer chino. On top, a linen or cotton shirt, a polo or a good T-shirt. Keep the belt slim, or skip it if the trousers sit well without one.

Washing them

Wash summer chinos inside out in cool water to slow fading, and hang them to dry rather than tumbling them: cotton can shrink in a hot dryer and linen comes out stiff. Iron cotton while it’s still slightly damp. With a cotton-linen blend, accept a few creases. They’re part of how linen looks.