Cargo crazy - Americans love casual style

The pockets on cargo pants -- and cargo shorts, skirts and bags -- are big enough to hold the attention of many different types of people.

Designers are using silk and taffeta fabrics for dressier versions of typically casual cargo silhouettes; retailers are stocking up on pocketed looks for spring; and regular folks still can't get enough of the shape that had previously been declared dead by fashion insiders.

"Consumers won't let cargo pants go away," says Atoosa Rubenstein, editor in chief of CosmoGIRL! magazine. "It's a true consumer-driven trend."

She adds, "What jeans were, is what cargo pants are now."

These pants, featuring oversized exterior pockets on the legs, started out as a backlash against slim jeans. At first, they mostly were popular with high-schoolers and college students, Rubenstein says, but cargos have grown from being a teen trend to a must-have item in almost any wardrobe.

This season offers one of the biggest crops of cargos to date.

Cargos made of parachute material were "sort of odd" when they first appeared in stores in the 1980s, acknowledges Charles Nolan, the design director for Anne Klein, but the pants and their signature pockets have evolved into a useful, fun garment.

"You can do whatever you want to it. You can go for a paratrooper or flight-suit look with a drawstring at the bottom and wear it with a flat sandal and a cashmere twin set, or you can wear it as knickers with high-heel sandals," Nolan says.

The proliferation of cargo pants and other pocketed looks happened as "a collective consciousness" formed within the fashion world. Nolan says it's not as if he sits around a table with other designers, manufacturers and retailers to decide this will be the hot seasonal trend, but they all realize it makes sense to explore new cargo styles while the customer demand is strong.

Cargo is becoming one of those rare fashion categories that maintains a presence season after season, according to Nolan, just like blue blazers and khaki pants: When your old cargos wear out, you buy new ones.

Rebecca Weill, director of public relations for Gap, says cargos are always attractive to shoppers because they are fun and fashion-forward without being too edgy. The fact that they give wearers a convenient storage spot for keys and lipstick is another bonus.

This year's top looks include slimmer, streamlined pockets and capri lengths for women, and a zipper-top pocket and seam details on the men's version.

"It's unusual to have an item with such a crossover appeal with men and women, and although they come in different shapes (for men and women) the pocket detail is so definitive and distinguishable as 'cargo,"' Weill says.

Rubenstein of CosmoGIRL! says cargo pants fit nicely into Americans' casual look. And, she adds, while there is no age limit on who can wear cargos, the pants' popularity is a sign that Generation Y -- the look's first fans -- is beginning to show its power and strength in setting trends.

Finding the perfect cargo pant, though, can be an exercise in patience because there are so many silhouettes.

"The placement of the pocket is so important," says Rubenstein. "The secret -- just like with bikinis and jeans -- is to try on a lot of different pairs."

Weill says a flatter pocket is usually more flattering, and Nolan advises wearing a pocket located lower on the leg, near the knee, for a more graceful look.

So, will these modern touches keep cargos in fashion's favor forever?

"For this 10 minutes, the answer is yes," says Nolan. "But the whole point of 'fashion' is it comes in and it comes out. But, that said, if something sells, you do continue to make it."