Camouflage Pants: A Guide to Style and Function

Whether you’re looking at the camouflage pants in your closet and wondering whether you can do more with them outside of deer season, or have reached this website in the hopes of getting some notes for styling them, we have you covered.

Yes, you can wear camouflage pants in your day to day dress. However, it helps to understand a few pointers so that you don’t overdo it and that the ensemble you put together actually works. Here are a few things for matching other clothes to your camouflage pants.

● Don’t wear all camo

One of the worst things you can do with a pair of camouflage pants (or a jacket, for that matter) is to predicate the entire outfit on camouflage itself. This is the number one way to overdo it. Unless you’re hunting or engaged in some strategic game that requires concealment, keep your camo relegated to one or two pieces of wear.

For instance, can you get away with a camo hat and jacket, or a camo hat and pants, or maybe camo boots and pants, but don’t wear a top and bottom, even in the same pattern. It’s going to look like you’ve just come home from the blind and will look out of place everywhere except in the field.

● In fact, don’t mix camo patterns

Now that we’ve got note number one hammered out, it’s beneficial to remember not to mix camouflage patterns. If you’re wearing Realtree Edge pants, and want a camo hat, stick to that pattern. If you’re got a Krytek hat, make your boots match. Do not pair the two patterns together. This will work for hunting because it actually might further break up your outline, but for streetwear, it will look terrible - that’s a promise.

In other words, US Woodland might look great with denim or next to white or black, but it’s not going to look good when paired with Mossy Oak Obsession. Stick to one pattern with each ensemble, or to keep things even more basic, don’t wear one piece of camo clothing at one time.

● Camo and plain colors work best

Can you get away with wearing a graphic tee and camouflage pants? Sure. You could also wear camouflage pants with a patterned jacket. But should you? In both cases, probably not. Camo has a lot of movement among its macros and micros and does best when there’s no conflict from the other clothing you’re wearing. The long and short of this is that when you’re wearing camo, stick to solid colors in your other clothing - this includes your hat, footwear, and other accessories - in order to prevent a big clash of impressions.

● Camouflage pants don’t work with white-collar wear

Say you want to wear a pair of camouflage pants. Or maybe you want to wear a jacket. What you don’t want to do is wear those pants with a button down or a blazer, or the jacket with a pair of slacks. A camo jacket might work with work boots or hunting boots, but it’s not going to look good with a pair of oxfords. In other words, keep your clothing basic and blue-collar looking. Camouflage might offer a nice grunge aesthetic, but it doesn’t work with office wear.

● Military surplus gear generally works with camouflage

If you want to get a few pieces of clothing and other gear that are probably going to work well with camouflage pants, or other camouflage gear, it’s hard to go wrong with military surplus. The field gear produced for the United States military over the years, made largely from cotton canvas and ballistic nylon, in plain colors such as OD green or khaki, tends to be pretty nondescript and thereby doesn’t clash with or otherwise detract from camouflage gear.

Functional Applications for Camouflage Pants

While you can wear camouflage pants when you’re on the street, at work, or engaged in other forms of recreation, it’s important not to overlook their innate functionality. Some of the top uses for camouflage gear are among the following.

● Hunting and trapping

Arguably the most practical use for camouflage clothing is for hunting and to a lesser degree for trapping, although when trapping concealment is generally not that big of a concern. However, it’s easy to forget that if you’re trying to remain concealed, all of you needs to remain concealed, and that includes your lower half. That means you can’t just get a camouflage jacket, hats and boots and wear tan pants or blue jeans. Well, you can, but that juxtaposition isn’t going to look good among the brush when you’re trying to stay hidden in the field.

● Paintball and airsoft

When hunting, your goal is to stay hidden from animals; in paintball and airsoft, your goal is to stay hidden from hostile human eyes. The sharp eyes of a person will be quick to point out an unconcealed lower half that isn’t obscured by camouflage pants. Therefore, pick a pattern and stick to it. Make sure that whatever your jacket, hat and boots are is reflected, pattern-wise, in your pants.

● MilSim training

If you’re engaged in MilSim training for basically any reason and camouflage is permitted or required, then you won’t want to set yourself up without preparing to conceal your lower half with camouflage pants. The same notes apply here that apply elsewhere; as a general rule, make sure to choose a pattern that agrees with what all of your other gear has.

The Importance of Choosing an Appropriate Camouflage Pattern

Lastly, it’s important to choose a camouflage pattern that is appropriate for your use of camouflage pants - and other gear, for that matter.

This only applies to when you will be wearing camo for function and not fashion. For instance, if you are in the west or among scrubland, then a pattern that’s predominantly brown or neutral would be better than one that’s mostly green. In the eastern woodlands, green-heavy camos are more appropriate.

Either way, there isn’t one single good pattern that works everywhere (although MultiCam makes a good bid for that). That’s why you need to match the pattern to the application.