Cargo trousers have spent years being done dirty by men who sized up when they should have sized right. The result is half a generation of blokes wandering around in parachute trousers with patch pockets the size of dinner plates. We have no interest in that version. What we have been looking at are tapered cuts that keep the utility of the cargo pocket without the visual chaos that comes from too much fabric below the knee. The taper matters enormously here. Get it right and the silhouette is clean enough to wear with a decent trainer and a structured jacket. Get it wrong and no amount of good intentions saves it. Fabric weight is the other thing. A heavier cotton or cotton blend holds its shape through a full day in a way that a lightweight ripstop simply does not. These are the pairs that look considered rather than compromised, and comfortable in a way that does not read as an excuse.