Cargo pants or cargo trousers, also sometimes called combat pants or combat trousers after their original purpose as military workwear, are loosely cut

pants Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and ...

originally designed for rough work environments and outdoor activities, distinguished by numerous large utility

pocket A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag ...

s for carrying

tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates b ...

s. Cargo shorts are a

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...

version of the cargo pants, with the legs usually extending down to near-

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the ...

lengths. Both cargo pants and shorts have since become also popular as an urban

casual wear Casual wear (or casual attire or clothing) is a Western dress code that is relaxed, occasional, spontaneous and suited for everyday use. Casual wear became popular in the Western world following the counterculture of the 1960s. When emphasisi ...

, since they are loose-fitting and quite convenient for carrying extra items during everyday foot trips or while

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from ...

Description

A cargo pocket is a form of a patch pocket, often with accordion folds for increased capacity closed with a flap secured by snap,

button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nicke ...

, or

Velcro Velcro, officially known as Velcro IP Holdings LLC and trading as Velcro Companies, is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of hook-and-loop fast ...

common on

battledress A combat uniform, also called field uniform, battledress or military fatigues, is a casual type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday fieldwork and combat duty purposes, as opposed to dress ...

and hunting clothing. In some designs, cargo pockets may be hidden within the legs. Cargo Shorts 2018

Cargo pants are made of hard wearing fabric and ruggedly stitched. Increasingly they are made of quick-drying synthetic or cotton-synthetic blends, and often feature oversized belt loops to accommodate wide webbing belts. The garments are characteristically designed to allow bending at the knee and hip, and are sewn with felled seams for strength and durability.

History

Battle dress was first worn by members of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

in 1938, and were introduced to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in the mid-1940s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The large pockets characteristic of cargo pants were originally designed for British forces to hold field dressings, maps, and other items. The concept was copied in the U.S.

Paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...

uniform to allow more room to hold K rations and extra

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

. Cargo pants were a popular fashion trend in the early 2000s. They have enjoyed renewed popularity in the 2020s as part of the 'Y2K' fashion trend, where 2000s fashion trends have been brought back into fashion.

Variations

Cargo shorts

Cargo shorts are cargo pants shortened at the knee. Some cargo pants are made with removable lower legs allowing conversion into shorts. In 1980, cargo shorts were marketed as ideal for the sportsman or fisherman, with the pocket flaps ensuring that pocket contents were secure and unlikely to fall out. By the mid-to-late 1990s, cargo shorts found popularity among mainstream men's fashion. In 2012,

Tim Gunn Timothy MacKenzie Gunn (born July 29, 1953) is an American author, academic, and television personality. He served on the faculty of Parsons School of Design from 1982 to 2007 and was chair of fashion design at the school from August 2000 to Ma ...

observed that while the pockets were undeniably useful for carrying things for work or other everyday tools, cargo shorts were more practical than elegant.

EMT pants

EMT pants are cargo pants with six-way cargo/scissor pockets on one or both legs, each with a hidden zippered pocket on top of cargo pocket, a bellowed flap pocket with increased carrying capacity, besom pockets on calves for glove storage, and three slots for scissors (two fitted with snap closures).

References