Chino cloth

 ( Woven Fabrics ) 

Chino cloth ( ) is a twill fabric originally made from pure cotton. The most common items made from it, trousers, are widely called chinos. Today it is also found in cotton-synthetic blends.

Developed in the mid-19th century for British and French military uniforms, it has since migrated into civilian wear. Trousers of such a fabric gained popularity in the U.S. when Spanish–American War veterans returned from the Philippines with their twill military trousers.

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Etymology It is unknown why American veterans called the trousers "chinos". It is theorized that the cloth or the trousers were made in China.

The American Heritage Dictionary says that the word is from American Spanish chino, literally "toasted", in reference to its usual color. But this is not a usual meaning of the Spanish word. The University of Chicago Spanish Dictionary, 1973.

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History First designed to be used in the military, chino fabric was originally made to be simple, durable and comfortable for soldiers to wear; the use of natural earth-tone colors also began the move towards camouflage, instead of the brightly colored used prior. The British and United States armies started wearing it as standard during the latter half of the 1800s.

The all-cotton fabric is widely used for trousers, referred to as chinos. The original khaki (light brown) is the traditional and most popular color, but chinos are made in many shades.

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Further reading

• K. K. Maitra (2025). 9788183242059, Mittal Publications. ISBN 9788183242059
• Larry Operath (2025). 9788189093624, Lotus Press. ISBN 9788189093624
• Mary Brooks Picken (1998). 9780486402949, Courier Dover Publications. . ISBN 9780486402949

Categories: Woven Fabrics, Trousers And Shorts

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