It is the last week of summer, but it’s not the last week of being sweaty and seeing too many guys in short-shorts. Here’s what’s been on my mind this week. 

Cargo pants are everywhere

I’ve noticed that many of the people I love and admire for their style have been wearing cargos or some kind of mil-spec-looking fatigue. 

I used to wear them allllllll the time. I got ripstop cargos from the Army-Navy on Canal Street in all the colors: black, navy, green, tan. I always liked them when they were still crisp and held their shape. But they look good when they’ve been skated in, unwashed for a few summer weeks the way mine were most of the time.

Now I’m old and wash my clothes more, but I’m still thinking a lot about cargo pants. Comoli makes a good pair that tends to sell out swiftly. 18east is a generally reliable proprietor of utilitarian clothes that are made with a keen eye for the kind of details that skaters and snowboarders geek out over. Here’s a pair of cargos from the brand that looks especially good for strolling across a meadow to a payphone. And early this year I picked up this pair of pocketless cargos from Lauren Manoogian — now on sale — that I strongly recommend if you’re looking for a super lightweight pair. 

One thing I never liked about cargos is that they seem to invite a lot of unwanted commentary. “Whatcha got in there?” etc. I’m not big on unsolicited questions about my clothes. It’s like commenting on my face; don’t bring it up unless I do first. They also come with decades of cultural baggage: soldier, skater, rapper, hippie, Abercrombie prep, menswear peacock, what have you. But none of that seems to matter anymore. Style codes, like culture, have been flattened. You think cargo pants are cool? Wear ’em.

Common Projects is… back?

An unironic resurgence of the brand that defined the first wave of nu-luxury menswear is underway. Common Projects was once an IYKYK status symbol for cool guys with creative industry jobs and Tumblr accounts. But by the late 2010s, the skinny chinos, navy chore coat, and minimal sneaker aesthetic became emblematic of menswear’s past. Anonymous and tasteful were replaced by personal and garish. We grew tired of mid-level creative directors being the arbiters of style, and disdain grew for their ubiquitous, easily replicable fits. 

Most of those bozos were probably wearing knockoffs, anyway. I still see them all the time: monotone white or grey or black sneakers with no branding or detail that are easily identifiable as not-CPs. Eventually, it became rare to see an actual pair of Common Projects. 

The brand hasn’t refreshed its Instagram page since 2024, and Common Projects itself doesn’t seem to have been updated for years. But they never stopped producing some very nicely made and nice-looking shoes. Lately, I’ve noticed them in stock at some elite tier multi-brand shops like Ven. Space in Brooklyn. Jian recently told Footwear News that minimal sneakers are coming back; it must be true.

In related news…

Auralee has a great chore coat that dropped recently so I guess it’s open season on the year 2015.

Asymmetry always looks cool

I’ve been thinking a lot about how much I like casual asymmetry in a look. One rolled-up pant leg like you just got off a bike. A sweatshirt with one arm in the sleeve, like you got distracted midway through putting it on. Anything that creates some kind of tension between left and right.

My pal Emily Dawn Long is the queen of styling this way, always with a shirt hiked up or hanging way off to the side. Then, I clocked a bunch of asymmetrical variations at the excellent Celine men’s spring ’27 show in Paris this past June. Last week, it was actual legend Mister Mort giving a clinic on styling this way when you aren’t a waif or a runway model.

Merch sucks

This hat sucks. It sucks so bad, in fact, that it quickly sold out. Or the NYPL didn’t want the smoke and decided to 404 it. 

I don’t think our most venerable institutions should be compelled to sell this kind of derivative bottom-feeder merch. It’s giving brand-new old-school bagel shop with secret VC funding.

One negative result of the Knicks winning is that it opened up a vein of city-dweller chauvinism that can only be expressed through slogans printed on hats and T-shirts like this one. Don’t get me wrong; I’ll take supporting a public library over “New York or Nowhere” any day, but this stinks like low-grade Nolita matcha powder. Hire a talented designer and do better.