Earlier quoted context omitted.
> awful hip pocket bulges Who says they're awful? Why do they say that? We must be informed and skeptical consumers.
Can we have opinions on our clothes without having to give every random person on the Internet a full justification? Why yes, yes we can. But, OK, let's answer it. The first answer is right in the fine article: Hip pockets lead to bad posture when sitting. They cause back pain. The second answer is that if you dress for aesthetic instead of functional reasons, one of the very first concerns is silhouette. And if you…
See, I think you've missed what everyone in this thread is trying to get at. The defense of cargo pants is based on a pretty simple dialectic:
· Who determines what is fashionable or "aesthetic"?
Mostly, the people who design, sell, and advertise clothes. And also, people who directly profit off of being fashionable.
· What metrics do they use to decide what they're going to call fashionable?
Mostly, whatever will allow them to change styles from year to year and sell as many products as possible and maintain their position at the top of the fashion world.
· Is it in our interests to buy into this system of fashion?
No! In fact this dialectic has shown that fashion is basically bullshit, and that it's not just morally neutral but good to resist! To try to come up with our own fashions based on what appeals to us personally or simply wearing whatever has the most utility.
For the record, I don't necessarily agree with this argument (I lean towards fashion-neutral), but I think this pattern of thinking is extremely common in hacker culture. While I'm cynical about how fashion is created, I don't wear cargo pants either, but that's because I find them much less comfortable than a straight (not slim) cut pair of jeans.