Tuesday, July 21, 2020

In praise of pockets

I never thought I'd make a post about pockets.

But seriously?

I bought these new pair of pants online at half-price. They're a lovely shade of lovet green but in that way of phone cameras, mine is belligerent when it comes to certain shadings and produces mud, which seems to be its favourite colour.

Many women have been dying for decent pockets for years. I remember reading a story once about a boyfriend trying to please his girlfriend when she was away visiting her family. He hired a dressmaker and put pockets in all her dresses and skirts as a surprise. She married him. I would have.

Pockets in women's clothing can be strictly decor (i.e. mock pockets) or too shallow for even a tiny wallet. We whine but we put up with it.

So imagine my surprise when I got these pants.


The two pockets (yeah one on each hip. were so large and roomy and perfectly tailored I had to use a seam ripper to open them. A seam ripper.

Pocket size would accommodate a small dog or a pair.


And then, I nearly fainted - there was a huge back pocket


I am now a human knapsack.

43 comments:

  1. I LOVE pockets. And resent their absence is so many women's clothing.
    I would have definitely married that thoughtful man too.
    Your seam ripper is known as a stich ripper here. Any time I am sewing I need to have one handy.

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    1. They are great little inventions, those seam/stitch rippers as you can really zero in and get that pesky tiny stitch.

      I have to have pockets in my PJs too, so I buy men's.

      XO
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    2. Ditto tracksuits, the men's have pockets, the women's have none.

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    3. You are right, women's are all about her shape with no bulk to distract. And again, cheaper to make.

      XO
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  2. Oh I'm a sucker for pockets as well, gratz on green roomy pants. My camera do not like green either :) Hubby suggested that I wear men's jeans - next best thing after a dressmaker since we were poor students. I followed his advice, and have done so since.

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    1. Yes, me too Charlotte, men's jeans are so comfy and wear longer. Let me not get started on shirts.

      XO
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  3. Dear Wisewebwoman and Friends, bought a few cotton dresses. Yeah, they're a bit plain, but they have real pockets ;). By the way, when my husband was alive, he'd get irritated with even the men's t-shirts and sweaters lack of for-real pockets - and so much of the men's clothing that was designed for sissies. He was real conservative.

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    1. I have up on cotton dresses though in my time I favoured those with big pockets and roomy enough to change into swimsuits on the public beaches!!
      XO
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  4. I adore pockets. these days I dont buy things that dont have em unless they are dressy pants. I am one of those people who has been yelling for years about men's pockets and that pocket thing they have inside their suit and sport coats for wallets. It just aint fair. I wear soft knit maxi dresses in the summer instead of shorts and I am happy to say all the ones I ordered on lane bryant have pockets!

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    1. I was thoroughly surprised Barb when I bought this gorgeous brand new fake white fur coat at the SPCA thrift shop and it had inside large pockets. I felt so good storing my phone, my keys and my wallet inside it with room to spare for a card for the host!

      XO
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  5. A small dog would fit, lol. Yes, it is all culture and tradition but women can carry hand bags.

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    1. I hate hand bags, I like hands free for other stuff.

      XO
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    2. hand bags are even more of a pain when you need a stick!

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    3. Until covid, i always carried a handbag, but now use a beltpack. The pack is much less hassle, it's amazing to discover what you don't need to cart around.

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    4. I hear you Kylie, as my stick (George) goes with me everywhere. Free hands are wonderful.
      XO
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    5. Sue, life is easier without bags and their bits. I have a knapsack but it has a weight impact, so I am always calculating how much I can carry. Pockets remove this stress.

      XO
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  6. Now's your chance to get a pocket dog and carry it with you all around. :)

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  7. Don't imagine I didn't think of it Gemma, but the wee chihuahuas are not dogs that appeal to me. Maybe a wee Yorkie.

    XO
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  8. I love pockets but have a terrible habit of stuffing all my most important bits in them: keys, cards, phone etc and then end up somewhere with all my stuff in the pockets at home

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    1. Yes, you gotta act like a man there Kylie and have the nightly ritual of emptying the pockets. At least the men I was with did that!

      XO
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  9. Ha ha ... don't know what I'd do without my pockets.

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  10. Don't let those pants wear out! Only the finest tailoring has pockets sewn shut until the owner opens them. I have a pair of pants with the back pocket seams still intact. The front pockets are all I need and the back stays nicer looking.

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    1. I think that is why I was so shocked Joanne, I hadn't seen this kind of tailoring in years and years!

      I am so thrilled.

      XO
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    2. People don't know this stuff, I see so many jacket vents and skirt splits with the tacking still in them!

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  11. LOVE the giant back pocket. Which is largely useless where it is. I have an old ski jacket that I love and continue to wear every winter simply because of all the pockets. Two large, zippered patch pockets on the front, two smaller, zippered pockets higher up on the front, about chest height, then an inside chest height pocket. I can carry everything I need for the day without taking a bag that needs carrying. I strongly suspect it was a man's ski jacket as I've never seen any women's clothing with that number of good sized pockets.

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    1. River it is so much cheaper to produce women's clothes without pockets, I think if we refused to buy them it might be a start. Can you imagine a man buying trousers without pockets?

      XO
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  12. I routinely rest my hands in my pockets, if I didn't have them I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Over the years I have had garments without pockets but mostly that is the first thing I look for. Your pocket pants look very nice. I had to look up lovat green, never heard of it before, but it looks like an interesting colour. I think I have some weaving thread in that colour.

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  13. Me too Annie, I love putting my hands in my pockets. It is a lovely colour, such a foresty feeling good green.

    XO
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  14. It has always been a mystery to me as to why women's clothes did not have pockets except when they wore jeans. These trousers are unusual indeed.

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    1. I know Ramana, like a throwback of some kind to better tailoring days!

      XO
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  15. I know, the lack of pockets on women's clothes is a constant complaint. Do manufacturers really think women have no use for pockets, or are they just cutting costs?

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    1. I'd say, as always Nick, follow the money and if enough women stopped buying pocketless clothing, they would soon change their products.

      XO
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  16. Haha. Hey, enjoy your pockets. As for me, I wear muumuus 24/7 and there are no pockets. Don't really need them.

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    1. How do you carry wallet keys phone hanky, notes, pencil? You probably use a purse/handbag?

      I can't handle the weight and awkwardness of that.

      XO
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  17. I think pockets are important right now with cell phones – you have to carry them with you everywhere. With no pockets, then you leave the phone on a table or somewhere else like I do then forget where you put it…. Yes I am for pockets.

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  18. Yes V, pockets are great, I know where everything is and I don't forget my bits lying around on tables.

    XO
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  19. I've always been a handbag addict, never bothered much about pockets. In my working days I carried around huge handbags, filled with so much stuff - enough for a long weekend! Nowadays I really should rely on pockets more if I could find any - I have cane in one hand, bag in the other when going out. Due to Covid-19 we don't go out though, so it's not such an issue for me.

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  20. It is only when we have physical challenges we see the value. My knapsack is a delight though. It holds a fortune and is very light. My leather one is now beyond me but my pockets: I am thrilled.

    XO
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  21. Pockets are a must for me any more — space to carry more things when my hands are otherwise occupied.

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  22. I remember I used to think it was silly to worry about pockets and now I won't buy things without them.

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  23. Bliss! Men have always had pockets. Their hands have always been free. Women had to carry a bag, even for a bus ticket or a wallet. It wasn't fair! And now we hunt for clothes that treat us like people on the move, people who do stuff, people who need their hands available for action instead of neatly folded on our laps.

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