Cargo shorts may be dead, but they will return.
The line between what is fashionable and what is functional is a blurry one, and cargo shorts are superbly functional.
Winter is a time of pocket surplus. Jackets, coats and hoodies surround us and keep us warm with the benefit of providing us more pockets to do what pockets do and hold our things.
Then summer arrives, and the great pocket famine with it. That is, if you don’t wear cargo shorts.
I’m not talking about the more modern cargo shorts promoted by New York fashion setters, with cargo pockets barely big enough to fit a credit card. No, I’m talking about big, puffy, baggy, glorious cargo shorts.
These shorts allow me to carry all my things comfortably during the heat of the summer.
Now maybe I need to carry around more things than the average person does with my hobbies of photography, journalism and crime-fighting. However, that doesn’t change the fact that there comes a time in every short-wearing enthusiast’s life that they will have too many things and not enough pockets.
Function will always push the trend back to cargo shorts.
The greatest clothing item in the history of the human race got its start around World War II with the British invention of cargo pants, which were quickly made into shorts. It wasn’t long before the American uniform adopted them, and the military has never looked back.
The Greatest Generation invented the cargo shorts and defeated the Nazis.
Cargo shorts are not only functional, they’re patriotic.
What we decide to wear is a signal we send to others about our worldviews, our values and our beliefs.
But remember, fashion is fickle.
So, if you want to wear slim fit, tight cut shorts to echo the modern look of sleek design elements trendy right now throughout every industry, go ahead and be conventional.
Those brave souls who continue to wear cargo shorts should be commended for their continued commitment to functionality over form.
The next time you see one of these heroes, tip your cap or beanie or fedora or whatever terrible hat choice is trendy, because they’re keeping the dream alive, the dream of not having to carry things in your hands.
Which is really the purpose of civilization, if you think about it.
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