Women's Pockets Today
Tiny Women's Pockets
As you can see, a typical smartphone today is not able to fit into the pocket of women's clothes.
These are some examples of clothing designers adding functional pockets to women's clothing.
Today, women’s pockets are still not very functional, and in some cases fake. There has been a trend, particularly in more formal attire, to have decorative pockets that are basically there to give the illusion of a pocket, but in reality, they don’t actually exist.[1] A study done by The Pudding, a digital publication known for its explanatory infographics, published findings that showed that the pockets on women’s jeans were 48% shorter and 6.5 inches narrower than the pockets on men’s jeans, and only 10% of women can fit their hand inside their pocket.[2] A major reason for this fashion trend may be due to that fact that adding pockets would take away from the slimming effect that is popular in women’s clothing.[3]
It’s a harsh reality, but it does look like things may be changing for the better. There has been a increase in women speaking out and advocating for the incorporation of functional pockets in women’s clothing and there have been female designers such as Ilana Kohn, Caron Callahan, Rachel Comey, and Horses Atelier who have risen to the occasion and have begun to design women’s clothes with functional pockets.[4]
[1] Christina H, The 7 Most Baffling Things About Women's Clothes (Cracked.com, Cracked.com, 17 Jan. 2012).
[2] Nathalie Atkinson, The Politics of Pockets and Women's Wear: It May Seem like a Small Detail, but Pockets in Women's Wear Can Be Considered a Feminist Issue (The Globe and Mail, 12 May 2019), 4-5.
[3] Katie Winters, Give Us Pockets or Give Us Death! The History Behind Pockets in Women’s Clothing (University Wire, 28 Jan. 2020)
[4] Nathalie Atkinson, The Politics of Pockets and Women's Wear: It May Seem like a Small Detail, but Pockets in Women's Wear Can Be Considered a Feminist Issue, 5.