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>"Appendix: Sam, have you simply invented cargo pants? >No. Cargo pants are fashion-as-pretend-occupation — when not at work, wear a fancy chronometer to sugge
by Ftuuky 6y ago
>"Appendix: Sam, have you simply invented cargo pants?
>No. Cargo pants are fashion-as-pretend-occupation — when not at work, wear a fancy chronometer to suggest you’re a pilot or a diver, or camo to suggest you’re in the military. Cargo pants are a paratrooper costume. Cargo shorts have giant external pouches so teenagers in the 90’s, trapped in school, could say (sartorially) “I go out into the world and do adventurous things!” even though the things they stored in those pouches were doritos and portable cd players.
>I am discussing clothing as it might be worn by people while doing their real jobs, not their pretend ones. If cargo pants are appropriate for your real job, you definitely don’t want or need my side-seam welt pockets; and vice-versa."
Apologies if I'm dense but it is just a reinvention of cargo pants albeit in a more slick way.
And several techwear brands already provide this kind of pockets and gravity pockets as well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw8EKP7Qs7U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw8EKP7Qs7U
- jakear 6y agoThe def bing gives us: cargo pant (noun) loose-fitting casual slacks with large patch pockets on the thighs. This fits none of those (besides being casual slacks)
- wolfram74 6y agoYeah, I felt somewhat slandered by the attack on cargo pants. I wore them in high school and still wear them to this day for comfort and convenience. There is a functional elegance of being able to have pens, a small note book, keys+wallet and phone in separate pockets easily accessible. It's like having a preponderance of tabs open, but for pants.
- diiq 6y agoWasn't meant to be an attack -- they just solve a different problem for a different demographic. Like I said -- if you can wear cargo pants at work, then these pants probably don't mean much to you.
- wolfram74 6y agoI dunno, "fashion-as-pretend-occupation" feels like a negative connotation, sort of a "stolen valor" for professions the supposed person imagines as more prestigious or moral than what they actually do, adventurer or craftsman vs, say, insurance claims adjuster.
- diiq 6y agoYeah, when I have a moment I'll rewrite that section. I clearly missed the mark tonally. At least I know folks read all the way to the end, I suppose.
- thebooktocome 6y agoI don't think you missed the mark. Some people just like military cosplay a lot and get offended when you call out what they're doing.
- yjftsjthsd-h 6y agoAnd some people just like having lots of pockets and don't care how it looks.
- yencabulator 6y agoAnd some people don't think tight pants look good.
- djrogers 6y agoPerhaps, but there are also a lot of people with not-pretend jobs that can and do wear cargo pants (and shorts!). The implication as originally written was that if you can or do wear such clothing at work, you don’t have a ‘real’ job. That’s patently ridiculous. Heck, some of my highest earning years of late had me working with customers where I’d be more likely to see flip-flops than a collared shirt.
- msla 6y ago
- jwiz 6y agoI like 5.11 tactical pants. They have enough pocket to carry things, but not so much pocket that it's all bulging out. I just wish the phone pocket was big enough for the phablets.
- noir_lord 6y agoI've worn black combats (name for cargo pants where I'm from) since I was a teenager if work policy allows it (or more correctly if no-one has yet told me it doesn't), they are comfortable, practical, hard wearing and I'm a programmer - what I wear should be like 207th on the list of things they should be worrying about. As for brand, I visit the local workwear place and buy whatever they have in my size (usually dickies or similar) and move on - clothes made as actual workwear tend to be tougher and better made than 'fashion' knock-offs of working gear.
- mav3rick 6y agoThey look ugly. Are you really doing home improvement projects everywhere
- hoorayimhelping 6y agoTotally agree. Nothing makes me more upset than needing a pad and paper at a moment's notice, but having to reach into a backpack or a messenger bag instead. That feeling of dread when you realize the moment has passed, the thought is gone forever, and if I had only had quick access to my pen and pad, I would have saved a potentially enormously lucrative idea. But the extra 5 seconds to take the paper and pen out of my backpack the one time every year I need to write something down on the go cost me dearly. Now, I optimize for that rare situation. Sure, I look like a 15 year old manchild who never learned to properly dress himself, but that's fine, I work in tech, and don't need to interact with non tech people who have preconceived notions about me. And don't even get me started on regular pants pockets for your phone or wallet or keys. Sure they fit securely, are easy to access, and are universal, but they're not functionally elegant cargo pockets.
- TwoBit 6y agoDisagree that this is a reinvention of cargo pants. IMO it's just borrowing a tighter version of the pocket. The pocket isn't even the same given that cargo pants pockets are patch pockets instead of internal pockets.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Ensorceled 6y ago> Apologies if I'm dense but it is just a reinvention of cargo pants albeit in a more slick way. What, exactly, do you think cargo pants are? They aren't "any pants with pockets on the side of the leg".
- recursive 6y agoYou're blowing my mind. You just made me look up cargo pants on wikipedia. Apparently cargo pants have "patch pockets", which I guess is the difference.
- mc32 6y agoOne problem with pockets down the side is if you forget to zip or bottom them, things can fall out, of you don’t design them with a trapping mechanism, but those mechanisms can make it hard to pull things out if you’re sitting, so if you will be retrieving things while seated (school), the a lower position of the pockets where they don’t need a flap trap can be better.
- karaterobot 6y agoAgreed. He designed something that, by comparison to cargo pants, trades a little usefulness for a little bit more of a certain kind of fashion. Sometimes that's what design is: re-evaluating an existing solution to address a different set of requirements, and making small changes. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. The following is not exactly relevant to the article, but it gives me a chance to add the most useful quote I know about fashion design: >When cuffs disappeared from men’s trousers, fashion designers gave interviews explaining that the cuff was archaic and ill-suited to contemporary living. It collected dust, contributed nothing. When the trouser cuff returned, did it collect less dust and begin at last to make a contribution? Probably no fashion designer would argue the point; but the question never came up. Designers got rid of the cuff because there aren’t many options for making trousers different. They restored it for the same reason. (Ralph Caplan)
- yellowapple 6y agoI ain't seeing that rant about cargo pants in the article: > Appendix: Sam, have you simply invented cargo pants? > No. Cargo pants solve different problems for different people. > If cargo pants are appropriate for your daily life, you definitely don’t want or need my side-seam welt pockets; and vice-versa. Cargo pants aren’t office-wear; these dress pants aren’t combat-wear. Maybe the author softened the language there?
- diiq 6y agoI did.
- metalgearsolid3 6y agoFunny enough the designer in the video you mentioned has specifically perfected the phone pocket already. https://imgur.com/a/NgzjJP7 https://imgur.com/a/NgzjJP7
- saaaaaam 6y agoThose pockets are quite ugly though. The huge flap, the gaping phone slit. The advantage of the ones in the original article is they are pretty invisible.
- wigl 6y agoYeah I've seen this kind of pocket experimented with a lot in techwear. These Y-3 pants have a great side pocket: https://media.yoox.biz/items/36/36876259pl_14_d.jpg https://media.yoox.biz/items/36/36876259pl_14_d.jpg I've found it super useful.