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by bscphil 2167 days ago
> The second answer is that if you dress for aesthetic instead of functional reasons, one of the very first concerns is silhouette.

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.

2 comments

I really struggle to believe that there’s some secret cabal of garment manufacturers conspiring to decide what modifications of their clothes will be desirable in the next season. One reason is that the industry is competitive and mostly full of low margins. If you collude with (some of) your competitors to sell the same thing then your market becomes both smaller and more competitive. Another is that fashion changes don’t necessarily benefit the companies who were previously doing well. I doubt that most of the jeans manufacturers would have wanted leggings to have become so popular, for example.
"Determine" isn't synonymous with "dictate". No cabalistic intrigue required.
> See, I think you've missed what everyone in this thread is trying to get at.

Not really, no. "Aesthetic" is "concerned with beauty", not necessarily "beautiful". If you do care about beauty, you care about shape, texture, color.

> Who determines what is fashionable or "aesthetic"? These are two different things - the first one emerges as industry consensus, the second is your sense of beauty.

> What metrics do they use to decide what they're going to call fashionable?

Literally, I don't care. At all. The discussion wasn't about fashion. OP asked why people would consider hip pockets ugly. The answer was "people who prioritize beauty over function". There's no "they" who determine beauty. We have our own preferences.

My reply wasn't about fashion. It doesn't mention fashion with a single word. Neither does OP. And so I'm deeply amused to see that you think I didn't read closely enough.