# Why, why, WHY are the pockets sewn shut on some clothes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971 "2006-12-20T21:24:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoosierMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@HoosierMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoosierMama)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/1 "2006-12-20T21:24:18Z")
This seems to be more prevalent on suits or “dressy” clothes that I spend a little more for. They usually aren’t just a few light stitches either, but TOTALLY sewn shut. This is most frustrating when already out in public wearing the outfit and you go to stick a hand in a pocket and miss. I usually need a pair of scissors or a seam ripper and several minutes to remedy the problem - not something that can be done in the ladies room before a job interview, for example. Please help me understand. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/2 "2006-12-20T21:26:14Z")
For the record, I think this is prevalent in women’s clothes but, as a man, I’ve never had a jacket with the fake-out pocket. Maybe it’s a sick conspiracy to keep you wearing gloves & holding purses. It’s probably far more logical though… ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/3 "2006-12-20T21:28:23Z")
Some pockets are not meant to be used as pockets; and actually carrying things in them makes the jacket or pants lose their style. For looks, not for use, in short. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/4 "2006-12-20T21:28:29Z")
They’re to preserve the lines of your clothes. Gaping pockets make your clothes look bad. You’re free to do whatever you want with them once you’ve bought them, of course, but you’ve probably seen more than a few women with slant pockets gaping like little gills. This means their pants don’t fit, but you wouldn’t be able to tell as well if the pockets weren’t open. In other words, it makes them look better on the rack and you can make your own decision when you take them home. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/5 "2006-12-20T21:33:31Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] you’ve probably seen more than a few women with slant pockets gaping like little gills [/QUOTE] It is a little known fact that a significant percentage of women are in fact cold fish – thus the need for such pockets. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/6 "2006-12-20T21:33:57Z")
I imagine with women’s clothes, the expectation is that you won’t use the pockets and they’re only there for decoration. They do sew shut the pockets on men’s dress jackets as well, but usually it’s just a loose baste. ---
**Author:** ![HoosierMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@HoosierMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoosierMama)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/7 "2006-12-20T21:43:49Z")
Birdmonster and Wakinyan - I’ve had clothes that had the fake (decorative) pocket flap but no actual pocket. Though annoying, this makes slightly more sense to me than sewing a real pocket shut. Zsofia - Am I to understand that the teeming hordes that try on my pants before I buy them hang out in the fitting room jamming their hands down into the pockets to the point of mishaping them enough to spoil the line and therefore prevent my purchase? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/8 "2006-12-20T21:59:24Z")
[QUOTE=HoosierMama] This seems to be more prevalent on suits or “dressy” clothes that I spend a little more for. They usually aren’t just a few light stitches either, but TOTALLY sewn shut. [/QUOTE] That is a pet peeve of my fiancee’s. She has been told it is to preserve the line of the clothing _on the rack_ and you’re meant to cut them open after it’s pruchased (only if you want them). However, they stitch the damn things shut like they’re sewing up your gut after a c-section that’s never meant to be undone! I thought I’d have to get out my coping saw to help her out one night. It was hard not to damage the clothing. I don’t recall ever seeing them on trousers though, only her jackets. And she hates jackets that have the flap but no pocket under it. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/9 "2006-12-20T22:11:32Z")
I’ve had suit jackets that came with the pockets sewn shut, but it was always just a few stitches and easy to cut. I assumed they did that just to keep it looking nice on the rack. I’ve never had pants with sewn pockets. That would freak me out. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/10 "2006-12-20T22:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=Birdmonster] For the record, I think this is prevalent in women’s clothes but, as a man, I’ve never had a jacket with the fake-out pocket. Maybe it’s a sick conspiracy to keep you wearing gloves & holding purses. It’s probably far more logical though… [/QUOTE] I see you were never part of the ROTC Drill team. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/11 "2006-12-21T01:50:16Z")
[QUOTE=HoosierMama] Birdmonster and Wakinyan - I’ve had clothes that had the fake (decorative) pocket flap but no actual pocket. Though annoying, this makes slightly more sense to me than sewing a real pocket shut. Zsofia - Am I to understand that the teeming hordes that try on my pants before I buy them hang out in the fitting room jamming their hands down into the pockets to the point of mishaping them enough to spoil the line and therefore prevent my purchase? [/QUOTE] Nah, it’s your side fat. 🙂 Surely you’ve noticed that if you try on a pair too small for you,particularly if the pockets are slanted trouser-style, that sometimes the pockets gap out to take up some of the slack that would otherwise be provided by the cut of the garment? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/12 "2006-12-21T04:03:57Z")
It’s also because some dudes buy a suit, wear it to a function,then return it. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/13 "2006-12-21T04:15:18Z")
Answer from my dad - so that people can’t walk into the store and stick firebombs in the pockets which are left there hidden to go off after the store shuts. Apparently this has happened. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/14 "2006-12-21T05:00:03Z")
It has been my experience, in all stores where the actual pockets are sewn together (and they are not just fake pockets), that the sales clerk has a seam ripper and will open those pockets up for you if you ask. It has also been my experience that pockets are not sewn shut at TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less. Or even Kohls. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/15 "2006-12-21T08:18:27Z")
A friend of mine who worked for a number of years in a traditional men’s tailor shop told me that part of the reason was to to prevent the coat hanger hook of another garment snagging on it and tearing it, should it (the other garment) fall off the rail either in store or en route to the store. ---
**Author:** ![amijane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@amijane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amijane)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/16 "2006-12-21T12:06:01Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Answer from my dad - so that people can’t walk into the store and stick firebombs in the pockets which are left there hidden to go off after the store shuts. Apparently this has happened. [/QUOTE] It also prevents shoplifters filling the pockets with jewellry then purchasing the garment, which happened a few times in a store I worked it. Or shoplifters would remove security tags from a few items and stash them in a jacket pocket that they’d leave on the rail. The pockets of our more expensive items were always sewn shut, as others have pointed out, to hold the line of the garment and to prevent pockets being stretched out when the item was tried on, but it was useful for our purposes, too. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/17 "2006-12-21T12:14:46Z")
[QUOTE=Muffin] It is a little known fact that a significant percentage of women are in fact cold fish – thus the need for such pockets. [/QUOTE] I think you’ll find that if you take the time to slow cook those beauties they will warm up nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-why-why-are-the-pockets-sewn-shut-on-some-clothes/384971/18 "2006-12-21T12:18:34Z")
[QUOTE=Birdmonster] For the record, I think this is prevalent in women’s clothes but, as a man, I’ve never had a jacket with the fake-out pocket. Maybe it’s a sick conspiracy to keep you wearing gloves & holding purses. It’s probably far more logical though… [/QUOTE] I have. At least five jackets, and probably 3 pair of pants.