Brian Laird on WNYC.

So here's something you may or may not have thought about.

The American military and its profound impact on, of all things, modern fashion, our clothing and our accessories.

Think about staples like bomber jackets and aviator sunglasses, hello Joe Biden, cargo

pants, not your style?

What about a plain cotton t-shirt?

Well, apparently, soldiers coming back from World War I made it popular to wear them as regular shirts.

Before that, they were considered underwear.

Or another World War I stapled the wristwatch.

So in a new installment of a popular podcast, Articles of Interest, our next guest argues almost all classic menswear is based on 20th century

militaria. And that enduring appeal, we'll see it goes all the way back to the founding of the

country, says something deeper about the American psyche and how Americans think about

ourselves. So joining us now about the new season on the link between the U.S. military and the clothes

we all wear is none other than Avery Truffleman, host of the podcast, Articles of Interest.

Hey, Avery, welcome back to WNYC.

Hi, Brian's good to be here.

Before we get into how the military has influenced fashion trends today, you start with a history of the military

itself and its relationship to clothing. And you say Americans were always dressing to look more

rugged than they were. How far back do you want to go? Oh yeah. Well, it's funny because I feel like

there's this thing.

People get kind of roasted for dressing more rugged than they are, right?

For like wearing these really hardcore raincoats to go walk the dog.

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