The big news this month for fans of superhero films and comic books is that filming has begun on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger.
Once again it stars Chris Evans (not that one) and Scarlett Johansson.
The even bigger news for those fans who also keep a weather eye on fashion trends is that in the only image of the Cap so far released, he seems to be wearing combat trousers – or "cargo pants" as the Yanks insist on calling them.
Last spotted on the crowd members watching Toploader's 2001 T in the Park performance, combat trousers were de rigeur for most of the 1990s. If you fancy yourself a socio-economic theorist you could argue their popularity over jeans during that decade was actually a rejection of America – this was the era of Britpop and Parklife, after all, the decade in which we fell back in love with Fred Perry polo-shirts, Harrington jackets and The Kinks.
The reign of the combat trouser didn't last long, however. Normal service was resumed in the noughties and jeans re-asserted themselves. Perhaps because 9/11 happened and we came to realise we really were living in an American world, despite what Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller said or wore.
More likely it was because of The Strokes. Every snotty young rock band since has followed the New York group's fashion lead – predominantly skinny jeans and leather jackets – which means we've had over a decade in which the only people who have found a use for "cargo pants" are soldiers, female Eurovision Song Contest entrants from the former Soviet Union and Ray Mears.
Confession: I had two pairs, one a genuine Army and Navy Stores find, the other manufactured by Airwalk and marketed at people who didn't own a skateboard but who wanted to dress as if they did. Which, in 1996, described me to a tee. Both pairs went to the charity shop the first time I heard Is This It, The Strokes' debut album.
Now, cargo pants are back in favour. Glance at Esquire's list of 50 Things No Stylish Man Should Be Without This Spring and you'll find them nestling at number 16, just ahead of the Xperia Tablet Z, whatever that is. "Looks best with a deconstructed blazer or a close-fitting linen jumper," says the mag alongside an exhortation to buy the £175 Ralph Lauren version.
Of course in the 1990s we wore our combat trousers baggy. That, at least, has changed. Today's new breed are as tight as the skinny jeans they are (possibly) going to replace. So don't even think about trying to carry anything thicker than an iPhone in those low-slung pockets – and certainly not four cans of Stella, which was the usual "cargo" in my festival-going days and which made me way too bottom-heavy to escape a Toploader performance. That's my story, anyway.
barry.didcock@heraldandtimes.co.uk
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