I recently picked up a few pairs of nice cargo pants, and I’ll admit I was pleasantly surprised by the selection available. It’s been a long time since I’ve bought a nice pair of mens cargo pants – come to think of it it’s been a while since I’ve bought new pants in general – and didn’t realize the varieties available.
If you aren’t familiar with cargo pants, they are the popular multi-use pants that often zip off into shorts – but not always – and usually have a variety of pockets. Traditionally, – at least in my mind – they were always light in color or were strictly camo style.
Why I love Cargo Pants
One main reason: they are also cargo shorts. I wear a lot of board shorts and cargo shorts during the summer and I love not having to buy additional clothing. Cargo pants for men often come with zip off legs so that you can double them as shorts.
Another reason I enjoy cargo pants is they can be somewhat more dressy than jeans but are still very comfortable. If you know me at all, you’ll know I do enjoy being comfortable in what I wear. Needless to say, I know when it’s time to suit up and arrive in shirt and tie, but whenever possible I dress for comfort.
Formal and Dressy Cargo Pants
I love a pair of relaxed fit mens cargo pants or shorts, but this time I needed something a little more formal and dressy. There were a couple good options that I found that were both practical and dressy. Firstly, khaki cargo pants are very similar to normal khaki pants with the addition of a couple side pockets. Luckily, these khaki style pants also came as zip off cargo pants that allows me to zip them off and wear them as shorts. Granted I won’t be doing that when I’m out at dinner, it’s good to know that I can get some use out of these in the summer as well.
Lastly, there were plenty of black cargo pants available and even some with fewer than normal pockets – which is one of the main reasons why people typically don’t wear cargo pants to dress up. Finding a good pair of black cargo pants was a plus to add to the more formal attire.
Cargo Pants For Women
Gone are the days of only finding cargo pants for men. There were a ton of womens cargo pants that ranged from skinny styles and a large variety of colors. I’ve noticed a lot of women wearing skinny cargo pants that resemble skinny jeans. In fact there were even a pair of denim cargo pants – which didn’t really make sense to me – that were being marketed mainly to women.
From what I could tell, there were less of a selection of zip off cargo pants for women but the skinny styles and the nice dark black colors made up for it.
Cargo Pants Are Perfect For Travelling
I don’t do nearly as much travelling as I would like to, but have decided that is one of the things that will change in 2012. That said, mens and womens cargo pants are great the perfect choice for the avid traveller. The additional pockets throughout the pants allow you to reduce the amount you need to pack. In fact, I recently watched a video of Rolf Potts discussing how to pack for an around the world trip with no luggage. Needless to say he used all the pockets in his cargo pants – as well as a nifty vest.
Do you love your womens or mens cargo pants? Let me know by filling out a comment below – I love hearing form readers. As always, if I stumble across anything else interesting, I’ll add it in the comments.
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