Comment by LeifCarrotson | Hacker News Reader

Comment by LeifCarrotson | Hacker News Reader

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I'm currently at work (thank Pomodoro for HN breaks, curse Murphy for causing everything to fall apart at the same time on a Friday). I'm a college-educated, homeowner, married, father of one, controls engineer. I spend my days at work between my office programming and designing industrial automation equipment, on the shop floor building it, and customer sites selling, upgrading, or maintaining it. I'm not a punk kid, nor am I a paratrooper, and I don't pretend to be nor do I look like either of those things.

I'm currently wearing cargo pants (Columbia Flex Roc). I typically wear Levi's 541s. The Columbia pants do happen to have a side-seam welt pocket that that meets all your requirements. They're comfortable both in a customer conference room or if I'm on the plant floor inside a machine.

I think the reason people are offended by your characterization is that they wear 'cargo pants' but we are not in a different demographic. My Columbia pants solve the exact problem you have and are worn by people exactly within your demographic. (Not to mention physically closer than you think, after a bit of stalking your website, I'm 20 miles north of you, we probably have some of the same clients).

Though it's also possible that they're not cargo pants, maybe they're dad pants. That.... might be the case. And perhaps you're rebelling against becoming one of 'those' middle-aged men. Just give in to it. Have you tried carrying your multitool in the side seam pocket? It's just so handy! :)

Columbia Flex Roc [0] are not really what I would consider cargo pants. Most people talking about cargo pants are talking about something like a G Star Raw Rovic [1] (which are about the slimmest fitting ones I can find).

Another commenter mentioned fitting a notebook & pen in pockets - I'd struggle to fit them in your current pants.

[0] https://columbia.scene7.com/is/image/ColumbiaSportswear2/179...

[1] https://www.g-star.com/en_gb/shop/men/trousers/d02190-5126-2...

As someone shocked how many of the commenters here are wearing cargo pants, I'll admit those gstar ones look pretty good and modern. That said, I think you're being very generous by suggesting this crowd is on the cutting edge of cargo pants fashion with slim fit and modern silhouettes.

This seems more likely: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Dork+in+cargo+pants&t=fpas&iar=ima...

I was trying not to search along those terms, but yeah that's pretty much what I was thinking. Even as modern as the g star ones are, they are still substantially bulkier than say levis 511s-

[511s] https://www.very.co.uk/levis-511-slim-fit-jeans-black/160011...

I'm really not sure those Columbia trousers are cargo pants at all, they're certainly not what I believe the article author was referring to anyway. (Quite like them though - didn't expect HN to be a place to find clothing recommendations...).

Could be.

But the only demographic I named was "people who can wear cargo pants to work", so you kind of set me up for a "no true scotsman". There are events, and clients, to which I wouldn't wear cargo pants, therefore we're in different demographics :)

It is a little disheartening to spend so much time talking about cargo pants, when I relegated them to a postscript and only mentioned them to say "I am not talking about cargo pants".

But nice to meet another michigander! Hopefully I'll see you at some meetup or event once we have those sorts of things again.

> It is a little disheartening to spend so much time talking about cargo pants, when I relegated them to a postscript and only mentioned them to say "I am not talking about cargo pants".

But that is totally your own fault for denigrating cargo pant wearers in the initial version of the post.

He didn't denigrate cargo pants wearers, he just said this design isn't for people who wear them... And then cargo pants wearers decided that was reason to complain even more.

He said that people who wear cargo pants just do it dress up like their "pretend job".

Edit: It appears that this was unintentional on the authors part and he has since edited it. Which is great!

> 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."

You did it to yourself by saying cargo pants aren’t “for the office”. This is a site filled with SWEs who work in offices where a dress code that didn’t allow cargo pants is so laughable it would be a reason to quit.

It’s just standard West-coast backlash against fashion snobbery. You might as well have said that anyone not wearing a 3-piece suit isn’t fit to go into the office.

I think the reason people are spending so much time talking about cargo pants is that they recognize, even if they don't articulate, the logical error on your argument. You spend a good amount of the post talking about how there is a lack of innovation in the fashion world. Instead, changes tend to be incremental. You then claim to have created your own innovation, a new kind of pants pocket. Yours is a new product. "But," your audience rightfully says, "don't pockets like that already exist in some pants?" You respond that the existing pockets are on casual pants, such as cargo pants, and that your pocket is a different product because it is on dress pants. But moving a pocket design from one style of pants to another is exactly the sort of incremental change you that you say shows the absence of innovation in fashion. We're drawn to your cargo pant statement because it is demonstrably false.

My interpretation was precisely that: dad pants. Personally, I find cargo pants (and shorts my god) incredibly unflattering. Additionally, the proliferation of pockets is a bit silly for many people since phone, wallet, and keys are fairly easy to fit even in skinny jeans. If you need more than go for it and if you like the look, go for it!

It looks like Columbia calls the side seam pocket a "Knife pocket"? https://www.columbia.com/mens-flex-roc-pant-1792581.html

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