There comes a point every summer (or so one hopes, at least) when it’s too warm to wear jeans. One day they’re right, the next day the weight of denim and the tightness of the fabric’s weave are too much. A cooler alternative must be sought. This is where chinos come in. They’re the warm-weather alternative to jeans, but with added versatility because, while jeans work with jackets, they inevitably dress them down. The right pair of chinos, however, slot in under a blazer and shirt just as well as they do under a plain white T-shirt or a grey marl sweatshirt. They have a sleekness that makes them a touch smarter than jeans, thanks to their inconspicuous set-in pockets and the fact that they’re a solid colour with no fade lines.

Chinos were given their name in the Philippines, following the Spanish American War of 1898. American servicemen stationed on the islands, then Spanish-speaking, wore trousers made in the style of British military khakis (“khaki” comes from the Hindi word for soil, referring to the traditional colour of the trousers). As they were in the Philippines, these were made in China – hence “chinos”, which means “Chinese” in Spanish.

In recent times, chinos have played a greater part in office life than in the life of officers, and they had a moment in the spotlight when they became indelibly associated with the dress-down Friday phenomenon of the late 1990s. For good or ill, dress-down Friday has largely overflowed into every other day of the week, but progress has been made in the design of chinos, which were once baggy enough to flap in the wind like a boat sail. Anyone looking to the past for inspiration would do well to go back half a century to the heyday of Ivy League style, when students on the finest American campuses wore them with insouciance, G.H. Bass & Co. Weejuns and shirts with button-down collars.

Fifty years on, we present a contemporary gentleman’s guide to wearing chinos.

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For those summer days when half the office is away on holiday and the rest of the office is thinking about going on holiday, a casual outfit dressed up with a soft-shouldered jacket should hit the spot. Carry the jacket over your shoulder while suffering the heat during your commute, relaxed in the knowledge that white shirts conceal sweat marks, and rely on the fact that, if you do need to sharpen up your appearance, the jacket will render you ready for a meeting or a last-minute dinner reservation.

When we think of chinos, we typically think of trousers with a fairly narrow cut. If you’re not a tight-trouser man and still fancy breaking free of your everyday denim, this boxier, wider shape is as cool as it is comfortable. This is a good proportion play for gents on the, shall we say, shorter side because a wide leg lends itself to a nice little cuff roll, which gives the illusion of a longer leg. We like how this hirsute man has kept the Japanese denim style going with a stripy chore coat. As you can see, chinos don’t have to be collegiate or preppy. With modern proportions and coordinating separates, the prepster uniform takes on new life.

Chinos are a classic look, yes, but that doesn’t mean they won’t mix seamlessly with hypey, buzzy accessories. Don’t know how to wear those ugly sneakers? Chinos. That heavy logo coat begging to stand out in a crowd? Wear it with chinos. Chinos are the blank canvas on which to project your wildest fantasies and, if styled right, can be the quiet supporting player to your flashier pieces. Don’t let their simplicity fool you. They’re here to help.

We all know and love navy and tan chinos, but black chinos are a workhorse (who doesn’t love being able to just throw on something black and know it will work). Black chinos with a black sweatshirt or sweater is a look that photo assistants and producers have been wearing for years with good reason. It’s easy to pull together and won’t show too much wear if you’ve got a busy day. This particular look is effective because of the details that elevate it from photoshoot gopher to stylish man on the go, viz pristine white socks and ox-blood loafers. You can wear the easiest outfit in the world, just make sure you get some dressier details in there.

Chinos employ an incredibly smooth weave, which is part of the reason they’re so versatile. They go nicely with other smooth fabrics (cottons, sateens, what have you), but look particularly advanced when paired with something nubbly and three dimensional. A blazer with a tactile and visible grain is a perfect foil to chinos’ tight weave. The gent on the right, above, is modernising this recipe with, perhaps ironically, retro touches – trousers with a bit of a pleat front and a tie that’s wider than his grin – which average the whole thing out to perfection.

Read what shoes to wear with chinos