Nicola here, and today I’m blogging about pockets. Until recently I hadn’t realised quite what a contentious topic pockets are (is?) Then, I read that the autumn fashion shows featured lots of clothes for women with capacious pockets because girls had been complaining about pocket inequality with boys. Apparently, this is a longstanding problem so I decided to investigate.
Way back in history, pockets were not a gender issue. Everyone carried a bag. Ötzi the Iceman, who lived around 3350BC was found with a pouch attached to his belt that contained various useful items including a scraper, a drill, a flint flake, a bone awl and some dried fungus. This style of pouch-type pocket remained in use for centuries and in fact the word “pocket” derives from the French word “poke” or “pouque”, which means pouch. In the picture a 15th century peasant is out working in the fields with his little pouch hanging from his belt. It looks rather precarious.
It wasn’t until the 17th century that changes in male and female fashions had a profound effect on the pocket. Prior to that, even the
smartest of Tudor gentlemen carried a purse, as Robert Dudley does here in the picture. Usually, it would be designed to complement your outfit, so you would have one for each pair of doublet and hose. However, the rise of the “cut-purse,” a criminal who would creep up, sever your pouch from your belt when you weren’t looking, and run off with it, led to men’s pockets being sewn into their clothes for the first time.
Women, meanwhile, were still expected to use little bags that were tied on to their skirts, but by now they had moved from the outside of the gown to the inside. Although there were accessed through a slit in the material of the skirt, it still sounds extremely inconvenient. First you would have to rummage around to locate your bag beneath your dress and then you would need to rummage in the bag itself to find whatever item it was you were after! Obviously, your valuables were safer down there so perhaps it was worth it. However, some of the embroidered linen pockets were so pretty it was a shame not to see them. This pair is from the V&A Museum.
For a while, both men’s and women’s clothes were so copious with their material that there was plenty of space to hide all manner of
things in your breeches or under your wide skirts. Fashions change, though, and along came the Regency with slimmer-fitting gowns and high waists. This spelled disaster for a bulging purse, which would have spoiled the line of a dress. Women started to use a reticule, the precursor of the handbag, a small hand-held bag. There were various drawbacks with this; firstly, it had to be carried everywhere and could easily be dropped or left behind. Secondly, it was a lot smaller than an old-fashioned pouch. The original tie-on pockets could contain keys, money, handkerchiefs, sewing items, watches, snuff-boxes, smelling bottles salts and even a gin bottle. In the process it made women less autonomous. If you couldn’t carry your own money or keys, you were much more dependent on a male companion with big pockets, or on a servant. After all, keys and money represented power and that was not an area a woman should be concerned with. Her little reticule was considered much more appropriate. Huh.
In the early 20th century, the lack of pockets for women became an issue alongside a lack of votes. Suffragettes demanded pockets and the cartoons of the day satirized them by showing them with their hands shoved into big pockets like men. But fashion slowly caught on. Designers such as Coco Chanel started to add pockets to women’s clothes; fashion started to become more practical as well as looking good.
That said, today the great pocket debate rumbles on. Many pockets in women’s clothes are shorter and narrower than on men’s clothing. Sometimes they are an illusion – I bought at least one coat thinking it had pockets only to discover they were fake. Pockets became a design detail, an embellishment, rather than a place you could keep your phone without it falling out because the space was too small. In 2025 an eight-year-old schoolgirl wrote to UK supermarket Sainsbury’s asking why their girls’ school trousers had fake pockets and the boys had real ones. “Girls need to carry things too,” she said. Indeed we do.
How do you feel about pockets? I love them in a coat or trousers but I’m not so keen in a dress because they can spoil the shape of it (for which read they “make me look wider than I am”.) I know, though, that there are some people who adore pockets in dresses. Are you a fan of pockets? Do you find them practical? Or do you prefer a bag, because handbags (and manbags) can be very attractive too!
Fascinating post Nicola! I love pockets and hate handbags! It’s so much more convenient to carry everything you need in your pockets – for me that’s usually my wallet, phone and keys. Although since mobile phones seem to be getting larger every year that’s sometimes difficult to fit! I do occasionally fall for a particularly pretty handbag – like you I’d use it when wearing a dress. But I much prefer the freedom of pockets!
I couldn’t agree more. I have left behind purses, except for special occasions, and now carry a wallet and keys in my pocket. I do check my jackets for functioning pockets now.
I do think that’s essential, Lorraine. I learned my lesson when I tried to put my hands in my jacket pockets and realized they were fake! It was very annoying.
Glad to hear you are a pocket person, Pia! Yes, I do like a nice bag to go with a dress or skirt – and of course the fashion industry has a vested interest in selling us handbags! A coat or jacket for me simply has to have pockets, and trousers too, though like you I worry about my phone falling out.
My husband has taken to asking me to put keys in my bag when we are out for the night as he doesn’t think his pockets are secure – a reversal of gender stereotypes!
You ladies have a way of illuminating things I didn’t know I didn’t know – or even thought about. Thanks for an interesting post.
In my younger days the only thing I remember stashing in pockets was gloves in my coat pockets in winter. I had a purse that weighed a ton because I had everything but the kitchen sink in it. But nowadays it’s just pockets and only the bare essentials.
Interesting post.
Thanks, Mary! I think I still weigh my bag/purse down with too much stuff and rely on it to carry more than I could in my pockets. Yet, having a pocket can be such a neat, convenient thing.
Pocket person here. One of the reasons I despise dresses (beyond cold legs) is their lack of adequate pockets. I used to sew my own clothes so I could have decent pockets. I need my hands free to gesture or I’d smack people in the face with a purse! And I can only goggle at all the women wearing form-fitting leggings with utterly no room for even a phone! Yes, pockets ruin the shape of everything. Ask me if I care!
Haha! Very practical, Pat! I admire you for being able to sew your own clothes, complete with bespoke pockets!
You find the most fascinating topics, Nicola! I’ve never thought much about pockets apart from wishing women’s clothing had more of them, but for practical purposes I used a lightweight handbag with many compartments in which I can carry everything, up to and including a book or an e-reader. (Or two!) The handbag is cross body so it’s always secure and I’ve never left it behind. My pockets get less use, but are still useful.
Thank you, Mary Jo. I agree that I usually need to carry an awful lot of “stuff” around with me. Pockets just don’t give enough capacity. But if I’m traveling light, they can be perfect.
I loved your article on pockets vs. purses. I like both. In my youth in the 60s I bought men’s Levis for casual wear because of the pockets. These days in my retirement I have pants with deep pockets and a purse, a cross body bag, I bought on line from a company in IIRC China in 2016. Dark Navy blue, canvas I think, with a large main area, 3 smaller pockets on one side and a single one on the other, a last small pocket on the inside of the main area, everything I might need organized within all pockets zipped. The bag even includes a ring on one end with a small keyring pocket for my keys. I think pockets for women are as necessary as the vote.
Thank you, Serena, I’m glad you enjoyed the article. Yes, pockets are a necessity, I think! But so is the option for bags as well!
I’m definitely pro pockets! So much easier that carrying a purse where everything gets jumbled up and you waste time looking for things. My wallet goes in my right pocket and my keys in my left. I was so annoyed recently when I bought a new pair of pants (online) only to discover they had NO pockets! So I rarely wear them. And I now read descriptions much more carefully!
Jane, I feel your frustration. The same thing happened to me when I bought two pairs of pants for the gym. Not a pocket in sight! And yet the men all have pants with pockets!
Thank you for this fascinating post, Nicola. I do like pockets and carry my keys in one and my small flip phone in the other. (I don’t want a Smart phone because I like to carry my phone in a front pocket.) I also frequently carry one of those kitchen sink bags with a bit of this and that. Since I don’t drive, I have no car in which to store things while I’m out and about…thus the bag.
Kareni I was so annoyed when I upgraded my old phone and found it was much bigger, and didn’t fit in the few garments with pockets that I have. I also have a kitchen sink bag
Very interesting blog, Nicola. I like pockets in skirts and trousers but not dresses, to carry a cell phone easily, like the men. Other items I can carry in a handbag.
I have a small cross-body bag that fits a small wallet and a large phone so I can keep my hands free when I go pocket-less!
I do like pockets but I usually end up with just tissues in one and sometimes my keys in another. I’m also use a cross body bag and it usually contains the kitchen sink !! A hangover from when the kids were small I suppose. But I’ve never had one big enough for a gin bottle 😊
I’ve seen men nowadays with bags as well. My brother always has a backpack type thrown over his shoulder and it contains two books at least because he says you never know when you get stuck somewhere and need to pass the time!
Great post!
Teresa, sometimes that’s all we need to carry — tissues and keys. But of course once we have to carry a bag, all kinds of other “might need this” stuff gets added in.
By the way, poor Nicola is away and stuck in the middle of a storm and can’t get on to the Wenches site to reply to the latest comments. She’ll be back when she can.
Oh dear! Sorry to hear thst! How frustrating.
Oh no!! Hope she got home ok!
Years ago I read an interview with a transwoman. When asked if she had any regrets or missed anything about being a man, she answered, “only pockets.”
LOL Meg — that’s priceless.
Very interesting. Who would have thought that something seemingly mundane as pockets could have ‘power’ implications? My husband is an absolute Pete’s pockets whereas I always carry a handbag – habit I think and I am sure I carry a whole load of unnecessary stuff!
While Nicola is off enduring a wild storm, the rest of us will play. 😉 My husband gets away with not carrying anything but keys and cards because he’s used to me carrying everything else. I am trying to wean him from this habit as my shoulder gets tired of heavy bags these days.
I love pockets. I won’t even buy a pair of leggings anymore unless they have the side pockets. I love my skorts that have pockets hidden underneath. I also carry a small secure backpack for my wallet & iPad mini but many times all I need to carry is my phone. My husband recently bought a fancy Italian leather backpack for all his electronic devices when he’s out & about. He gets a lot of compliments!
My guy has the same! When we were in Italy, he specifically sought out the leather shops until he found what he needed, suitably masculine, of course. 😉
Great male minds think alike. Lol.
That makes great sense!
I love a nice leather handbag, but I need pockets too. Some pockets are not secure enough for a phone; I’ve had the phone fall out when I was using the ladies room! When I’m out and about near home, I need the bag for a bulging wallet, sunglasses, coupon holder, tissues, pens, lotion, and all kinds of odds and ends. When I travel though, I take only the minimum that will fit in a fanny pack around my waist. I guess that’s the modern version of Ötzi the Iceman’s pouch. I love cargo pants which have extra pockets lower down on the legs, often with button closures. It’s a very secure place to keep your passport and some extra money while traveling.
gahhh on the ladies’ room accidents! I can’t use my back pockets for phones. But I do have a lovely travel jacket with all sorts of hidden pockets that I adore. I’ve about worn it out.
Ouch on the ladies room!
I find a fanny pack very useful when I’m traveling and doing a lot of walking. It’s nice to have hands free, and a sweater or untucked t-shirt covers the pack so you f really feel quite unencombered.
What a fun post, Nicola! Reminds me of the poem:
Lucy Locket lost her pocket,
Kitty Fisher found it;
Not a penny was there in it,
Only ribbon round it.
I am a big fan of pockets and try not to buy clothes without them. I carry money, keys,
slips of paper, all manner of things. I carry a cross body bag for larger items that won’t fit in my pockets. But I do find pockets much more convenient!
hmm, wonder if there was a penny in it to begin with? I’m glad to be rid of the heavy things. Credit cards fit in pockets much better!
Great blog, Nicola. The lack of pockets in clothes for women drives me bonkers. Do designers imagine we all want to carry handbags everywhere? The pants I wear to my gym have none, and it’s infuriating, having nowhere to tuck even a tissue.
Fabulous post, Nicola!
I HATE not have pockets in pants! (Though I agree that with a nice dress, a handbag is better to avoid breaking the lines of the dress. These days, we all do have to lug around phones and keys, and other sundries. nd fake pockets are so annoying.!
Nicola, I hope that you survived the storm and are now experiencing a nice pocket of weather!