3-in-1 used to describe pants? NAY

It has recently come to my attention, via a lovely individual on twitter, that zip off pants still exist.

Remember once upon a time when they came into "coolness"circa 2000s? Myspace was just gaining footing, Heelys were becoming commonplace, and Solows without thongs was still happening.  Ah, the good old days.  Then, there were only two parts to the offending item of clothing.  Ya got pants, and with one zip... SHORTS! So practical its almost criminal.  As the trend caught on, makers of said pants got a lil carried away and added a second level of zippers. Now instead of pants and shorts, one could have an intermediate length, capris.  Finally, the practical minded consumer would be ready for whatever mother nature had in store, dog forbid it was too warm for pants and too cold for shorts!

I was under the impression that these 3-in-1 bottoms rolled out of style with Heelys and Myspace (unfortunately the yoga pants with granny panties is not yet under control), but sadly I was mistaken.  It is possible to spot a pair of these nylon babies often enough to raise concern. 

To all those rugged folk, who find comfort in the existence of these multi-functional and multi-offending pants, and will probably never hear my cries, DITCH THE ZIPOFFS.  Putting a pair of shorts in your hiking bag won't kill you.  Nor would keeping up with basic fashion trends.

Photo via EMS (obviously)