Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

On Trouser Pockets

sambleckley.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 400 posts

Re: On Trouser Pockets

#41

Post by jablan »

diiq wrote: post #19
wolfram74 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, 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.

Wasn'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.

Certainly sounds like an attack. As if someone can't wear cargo pants simply for their utility or, god forbid, find them actually aesthetically appealing.

Re: On Trouser Pockets

#42

Post by tlamponi »

diiq wrote: post #26
annoyingnoob wrote: post #18

You seem kind of touchy on the 'cargo pocket' subject, which is the first thing that came to mind for me. Glad you found something that works for you. Google 'dockers cell phone pocket'. You can already get shorts and pants with a cell phone pocket on the side. Some very similar to yours, some zippered, some a little closer to the hip, some a little lower.

I guess I should re-write that postscript, given how much attention it's receiving. I have nothing against cargo pants! My point was just that they're solving very different problems for different people, and are stuck in a different kind of innovation-rut.

IMHO, what you propose and cargo pants have only in common that they're pants with pockets, nothing else. So the last paragraph is warranted, even if it seems that some here feel personally attacked by it... The whole point is how the pockets are integrated into the pants, and that's completely different solution than cargo pants.

Anyway, seems neat! I had some work shorts on a summer job years ago, funnily they were mostly like cargo pants, but they had an additional pocked very similar to your proposed one. It could be used for a folding meter stick (or whatever it's called in English) and that pocket alone made the shorts perfect. It allowed easy storage and access to a frequently used tool which was almost unwieldy long.

Do you plan to sell something like this online?

Re: On Trouser Pockets

#43

Post by Kalium »

jablan wrote: post #40
Kalium wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How "bad" they look is part of the aesthetic of cargo pants. Wearing them is in part a deliberate declaration that you do not care about the aesthetic considerations.

Or that you simply have different aesthetic criteria. When did fashion start being axiomatic?

Excuse me. You're right, I've been over-broad.

Purposely adopting cargo pants requires a rejection of the primacy of common, mainstream aesthetic culture in clothing decision-making for any of a variety of reasons. Examples include, but are in no way limited to, functional reasons and personal aesthetics.

Thank you for this opportunity to clarify my thoughts.

Re: On Trouser Pockets

#44

Post by diiq »

wolfram74 wrote: post #38
diiq wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn'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.

I 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.

Yeah, 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.

Re: On Trouser Pockets

#45

Post by hinkley »

annoyingnoob wrote: post #18

You seem kind of touchy on the 'cargo pocket' subject, which is the first thing that came to mind for me. Glad you found something that works for you. Google 'dockers cell phone pocket'. You can already get shorts and pants with a cell phone pocket on the side. Some very similar to yours, some zippered, some a little closer to the hip, some a little lower.

Docker has had khakis with a zippered pocket concealed in the seam for something like 15 years. They used to call it some nerdy name that I can’t seem to recall, but they’ve been there.

I had a couple pair stashed away hoping I’d lose weight but when I did I suddenly remembered I don’t wear khakis or slacks anymore, so why am I keeping these?

But a pocket that low on the thigh could take a hit, and I’m not sure these days when I’m more active if that’s a great idea.

Years before the DIY/maker movement started up, I saw a howto where someone slit the pocket in their jeans and sewed a second pocket over it, so that you had a double pocket. I know someone who owns a serger and I have made noises several times about getting some pants altered but we never manage to connect on that.

It’ll all be moot anyway in a few years if they keep making phones bigger. We will all be carrying purses for our phones.

Re: On Trouser Pockets

#46

Post by tlamponi »

jablan wrote: post #37
Kalium wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, the author seems mostly to be reacting to the name cargo pants. Thus the reeling off of associations they aggressively dislike. These are merely pants with additional pockets. Their placement being similar to cargo pants being merely a coincidence...

Yes, coincidence of reinventing the wheel. They reinvented cargo pants with pockets going inside instead outside. The purpose of the two is exactly the same: storing things. I don't care who invented cargo pants and who started wearing them first. I'm neither a pilot nor a soldier, nor am I pretending to be one, but I find them super convenient.

The whole point of the article is the placement and design of pockets.

Saying, "Oh, its just all some pants with pockets and thus it's all the same reinvention" doesn't help anybody - it's like saying to one which proposes a better roofing system that a shed and a house have both a roof already, so why bother making it better for one of those. Er what?

Re: On Trouser Pockets

#48

Post by jablan »

Kalium wrote: post #43
jablan wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or that you simply have different aesthetic criteria. When did fashion start being axiomatic?

Excuse me. You're right, I've been over-broad. Purposely adopting cargo pants requires a rejection of the primacy of common, mainstream aesthetic culture in clothing decision-making for any of a variety of reasons. Examples include, but are in no way limited to, functional reasons and personal aesthetics. Thank you for this opportunity to clarify my thoughts.

Thanks, my cargo pants really needed that self-esteem boost.

Re: On Trouser Pockets

#49

Post by LeifCarrotson »

diiq wrote: post #19
wolfram74 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, 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.

Wasn'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.

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! :)

Re: On Trouser Pockets

#50

Post by glial »

Y'all are a little touchy about someone criticizing your cargo pants! Consider that perhaps his criticism hits a nerve because there is an element of truth in it - for most people (myself included as a younger person), the symbolism of cargo pants is as important as the function.
Post reply on HN