Dickies
When it comes to wardrobe, I favor function, not form.
I mostly dress in black because it makes getting ready in the morning incredibly easy. ("What should I wear today? Black? Or black?"). Also, almost every article of clothing I own that covers the lower half of my body has cargo pockets--even my swim trunks. If they made pajamas with cargo pockets, I would buy them. There is always plenty of room for my many keys (metal and electronic), wallet, comb, cell phone, pocket knife, harmonica and other assorted items.
Unfortunately, it seems that black cargo pants are not "in". Looked for them everywhere. Couldn't find them anywhere, except for the snowboarder types (too bulky) and the skateboarder types (too baggy).
By chance, I happened to notice that two of the building engineers that I work with wear black Dickies slacks as part of their uniform. Also, when I thought about it, I remembered spotting the red, blue and yellow Dickies label on the jeans that were hanging too low on the hindquarters of a few of the plumbers and furnace repair guys that I have hired over the years. Dickies are obviously the best kept secret of the "show off your butt crack" crowd. In desperation, I went looking for a web site that sold Dickies.
To my pleasant surprise, I discovered that Dickies.com not only exists, but offers a wide range of sturdy, practical clothes--including cargos in several varieties and colors. I am now the proud possessor of two pairs of their cargo shorts (in sand color, for summer) and three pairs of regular black cargo pants. All of them are well finished, rugged, comfortable, good looking (to me) and came dirt cheap.
The Dickies on-line catalog is clean, basic and functional. No silly frills and extras. (The only "virtual models" I am interested in staring at are the ones over on the Victoria's Secret web site). The customer service has been excellent. The one item that I had to return was replaced promptly with the correct version. The original mix up in that case was my fault. I had accidentally switched the waist and inseam measurements on the order form.
Oh yeah, the web site has "women's" and "kid's" sections too. However, I am not qualified to comment on those. My wife and daughters have informed me that there is a mysterious, invisible dimension called "fashion"--which doesn't exist in my frame of reference--but which apparently has a bearing on such purchases.