It's not only the New York Police Department that may have a bone to pick with Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Police officers picketing for better pay Tuesday watched the mayor exit his SUV outside the Park Slope Y.M.C.A. where he works out most weekdays in an ensemble that may offend the fashion police: a T-shirt and khaki cargo pants.
The mayor walking from his favorite Brooklyn cafe to the gym, trailed by NYPD protesters yelling "one term mayor!" pic.twitter.com/DrzGzwJIVl
— J. David Goodman (@jdavidgoodman) August 2, 2016
A Wall Street Journal article published Monday reports that "relationships across the country are being tested by cargo shorts, loosely cut shorts with large pockets sewn onto the side." While dads who wear them defend the pants for their comfort and practicality, significant others and trendsetters mock them for being baggy and unsightly.
In a 2007 interview with Reuters, fashion guru Tim Gunn called the cargo shorts in closet his least fashionable item of clothing. In 2011, the British tabloid Daily Express condemned them as "an aberration, a humiliation for any man over 21 and should be sold only after proof of age has been presented."
De Blasio has worn cargo shorts to the Y in Park Slope at least once before, according to the Times, but photographic evidence suggests he favors them for athletic pursuits outdoors too:
A New York City mayor in cargo shorts and Tevas, presented without comment. pic.twitter.com/gRbXnEwFlB
— Andrew J. Hawkins (@andyjayhawk) July 21, 2015
His city's reputation as a global fashion capital seems to have no impact on his sartorial choices:
One of the fashion capitals of the world and the mayor wears khaki cargo shorts to the gym. I hate everything. https://t.co/2eWXR2DFCK
— Drew Stiling (@vikingdrewby) July 20, 2016
Of course, for those who saw the mayor send his son Dante off to Yale University in chunky mandals, his preference for unflattering shorts comes as no surprise.
