# Conspiracy About Women’s Clothing And Pockets **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 27, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194 "2023-06-27T22:20:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/81 "2023-07-06T13:05:08Z")
My wife wears medium stretchy demin jeans most of the time. Usually black, and always form-fitting her remarkably youthful figure. Rowwwr!! Her mobile goes in her right cheek pocket just fine. But it’s really clamped in there. No pickpocket is getting it out quickly or easily. The rest of her paraphernalia goes in a small ~6x8" purse. The other pockets are unused. Of necessity. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/82 "2023-07-06T13:32:47Z")
My favorite pair of pants (not jeans) were lightweight cargos with pockets that sat next to the calf. Perfect for flying as I could reach into the pockets when seated. More awkward to reach when walking, for sure. But they could hold a piece of chewing gum, my EarPlanes and my phone. The pockets were big enough to hold a small book. Did the pants look weird? Yes, but who cares if they are handy and comfortable. The comfort thing was their downfall, or mine. They would stretch out while seated and not shrink when standing. The last straw was having to hold them up with one hand while holding carry-on luggage with the other as I exited the plane.I would have elasticized the wasteband if there was a good way to do it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/83 "2023-07-06T13:44:41Z")
Cargo pants should always have belt loops. Though if the problem was that the length of the legs had stretched, that wouldn’t help; but in that case nothing you did to the waistband would have helped either. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/84 "2023-07-31T16:27:46Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > So often I’ll see women walking down the street with their giant phones halfway sticking out of the tiny back pocket and just think “that is a pickpocket’s dream right there!” Yeah - I cannot imagine sticking a phone (or anything else, really) in a back pocket. I tend to go around without a purse at all these days; my wallet is on a bungee and lives in my front left pocket, attached to a belt loop. My phone in the front right pocket. I suspect a pickpocket would have a much harder time getting at either without my noticing. Sadly, even when women’s clothing HAS pockets, they are often basted shut by the manufacturers. So you really cannot tell how large the pocket is, in the store. I once bought two new pairs of dress pants; un-basted one, found I could almost put my phone in if I laid it sideways and had it sticking out a bit, and returned the other pair in disgust. Big Purse has lost its mind also. I’ve used a specific model from a specific manufacturer for years. The first two, the main zipper broke after a couple years, but I loved it so much otherwise that I simply replaced it. It was, in all ways other than the zipper problem, the Perfect Purse. Recently, after a few years of largely going purse-less (see above), I decided to switch back - and they’ve eliminated the original design, and made a smaller version with almost the same name, and fewer / smaller pockets. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I have things in every pocket and cannot imagine being without pockets. A friend claims that women will never be fully liberated until they insist on pockets and stop carrying a handbag. To be fair, the advantage of a purse is that everything you need is right there, no matter what clothing you have. If you are just using pockets, you need to make sure they are loaded up each morning with whatever you need. Much harder to forget your wallet, if it lives in a purse. My purseless days are largely enabled because I wear the same pair of jeans or whatever for several days in a row. If I went to an office, I’d likely be a full time purse-user again. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/85 "2023-07-31T17:46:30Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > To be fair, the advantage of a purse is that everything you need is right there, no matter what clothing you have. I went to dinner with a woman I know, and when we got back to my car (in a large parking garage), I took my wallet out of my pocket, sat in the driver’s seat, and set the wallet on the center console. She asked me why I did that. I said that when we got to the gate to leave the garage, and I had to pay the parking fee, it would be hard to fish the wallet out of my pocket (especially with the seat belt on). She said she’d never thought of that. She carried her wallet in her purse. When she drove out of a parking garage, it was simple enough to just grab her purse, put it on her lap, and grab her wallet. Some cashiers are also taught to give change by laying the bills on the customer’s hand, then the coins on top of that. Works fine if you can just slide the coins off your hand and into your purse; but clumsy if you need to put them in your pocket. That’s becoming less of a problem as cash payments are getting more rare. So, yeah, pockets are great sometimes, but they aren’t a perfect solution to carrying stuff around. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/86 "2023-07-31T17:48:47Z")
I always though this style of vest [![](https://image.sportsmansguide.com/adimgs/l/7/731933_ts.jpg) ](https://image.sportsmansguide.com/adimgs/l/7/731933_ts.jpg) was great pocket-wise. Not fashion-wise, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/87 "2023-07-31T17:49:26Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Not fashion-wise, unfortunately. Proud Boyz fashion is the worst kind of fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/88 "2023-07-31T17:54:10Z")
I wear the same jeans for a week, so I don’t load the pockets every day. On Sunday night, I empty the pockets onto my dresser and put everything in the pockets Monday morning. Both my wife and I have lost a significant amount of weight over the last decade as a result of which she has some old shorts that are now too large for her, but now large enough for me. I put one on a couple weeks ago and discovered that, while it had all four pockets I am accustomed to, they were all considerably smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/89 "2023-07-31T17:57:42Z")
> [@Women like pockets, but fashionable dresses, etc, don't have them, why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-like-pockets-but-fashionable-dresses-etc-dont-have-them-why/968277/5): > > During the search for the following, I received a LARGE number of hits “how to add pockets to a dress”: Before you do anything, you should probably search, “SHOULD I add pockets to a dress”. I believe I mentioned in the linked thread that many female items would look terrible with pockets. I mentioned that none of the dresses that Cheryl Scott (ABC 7 weather at ten) wears have pockets and would look terrible with them. In the movie, “Gunpowder Milkshake”, there is a scene depicting the high school aged Sam in a diner. She is wearing a cute sweater but, seemingly patched on by a bad tailor with terrible eyesight, there is a pocket that looks absolutely horrible. It is a perfect example of what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/90 "2023-07-31T18:33:57Z")
But tacticool is the coolest cool! /s I really do feel sad for people who use “tacticool” an an unironic compliment. But credit where credit is due: if you’re willing to step up to full load-bearing gear, you have probably solved your pocket problem. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/91 "2023-07-31T19:00:16Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I really do feel sad for people who use “tacticool” an an unironic compliment. They’re usually the folks who got thrown out of the Boy Scouts for insufficient ability to not cry while camping without Mommy. With very few exceptions they’re not veterans of anything. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/92 "2023-08-01T02:05:47Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > was great pocket-wise. Actually, I just gave my old multi pocketed men’s vest away to a friend because it fits him much better than my girly figure. From [**ScotteVest**](https://www.scottevest.com/): they are fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/93 "2023-08-01T13:48:19Z")
Sure! And any of the “travel”, “fly-fishing”, “photojournalist”, or “UN humanitarian worker” myriad-pocket-style vests, and you have some color options, are (usually! I do not want to underestimate some stylistic genius) going to be a better look than “military surplus”, even if you would not wear any of them to the opera. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/94 "2023-08-01T16:40:42Z")
…and they make going through a security scan a one-stop deal, no need to give yourself a pat-down. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/95 "2023-08-02T20:13:13Z")
What makes it truly infuriating is that clothing manufacturers invest money in all the seaming and piece fitting costs to create the full appearance of pockets. The difference between that, and a few more millimetres of fabric to actually HAVE a pocket is literally pennies! They have paid all of the cost for the cutting, piecing, and sewing, but are too freaking cheapass to spring for literally 3 more inches of cheap lining fabric. It’s not like there has been a substantial saving passed on to the consumer, zero saving had. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/96 "2023-08-03T01:47:09Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > They have paid all of the cost for the cutting, piecing, and sewing, but are too freaking cheapass to spring for literally 3 more inches of cheap lining fabric. Well, the story they feed us is that the pockets make us look unattractive and lumpy. I say the skin tight clothing makes us look unattractive and lumpy and I’d rather wear something loose-fitting with pockets. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194/97 "2023-08-03T01:53:00Z")
Hear, hear! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-about-women-s-clothing-and-pockets/986194.md?page=4)