Pockets are great only when you have them and only when they are large enough to stuff anything you want inside them. While men’s clothing tends to have capacious, visible pockets, women’s clothing tends to have small pockets, if any at all. Women’s jeans have pockets, but not big enough to even fit the latest smart phones. The question that many women have been asking for a while now is why are women’s pockets so tiny or totally non-existent? Don’t women need to carry keys and a mobile phone, too?
While some designers feel that pockets aren’t required in women’s wear, others opine that if women want them, the designers would be happy to provide more practical pockets in their collection. “Over the years, we have seen an increase in the necessity of pockets in women’s wear which is why, designers have made a shift towards increasing them among women’s clothing. We now have pockets in dresses, kurtas and even lehengas. If women are now asking for more practical pockets, designers will most definitely respond with clothes suited to their needs,” says designer Rahul Mishra. Talking about whether introducing pockets in kurtis or trousers decrease the fashion quotient, Rahul says, “Not at all. Aesthetically speaking, pockets don’t necessarily go with all kinds of clothes, so that definitely needs to be taken into consideration.”
According to designer Payal Singhal, who designs contemporary Indian clothing, traditionally Indian wear didn’t have pockets and hence most brands still don’t have them. “As a lot of east and west designs are fusing, several designers are adding pockets in Indian wear too,” she says. Further, she says, “The general rule of the pocket is that your whole palm can go inside it comfortably, and hence the latest mobile should fit. Maybe it’s that they are trying to save the fabric or something, I don’t know.”
Many women have been complaining about the inadequacy of their pockets, men’s clothes, on the other hand, have loads of pockets, thus freeing their hands and movement considerably. However, many think a woman’s handbag can never be replaced by a pocket, no matter how comfortable. “Men have minimal things to carry, on the other hand, women tend to carry their keys, phones, their lipstick, their compact, their tissues and so many other things. So, women need handbags, even if the pockets are big and spacious,” says well-known designer Anamika Khanna.
Ace designer Rocky S thinks that it’s not possible to have pockets on certain dresses. “We’ve always believed in incorporating pockets that are practical and help hold basics. However, we understand, it is not always possible to have pockets; large or small on particular silhouettes that require a certain flow. At the end fashion is about utility. It is the buyers choice and we understand the changing needs and constantly try to keep pace with it.”
History of pocket in women clothing
- In the 17th Century, pockets in a woman’s dress used to do a lot more than simply decorate. A pocket was one of the few truly private places to keep personal possessions.
- In the 18th and 19th Century however, women’s pockets shrunk and sometimes even disappeared.
- In the late 19th Century, dress patterns started to include instructions for sewing pockets into skirts if you felt like being an independent woman.
- At the dawn of the 20th Century, fashion was so obsessed with slimming women’s silhouettes that pockets started getting cut out of women’s pants completely.
- 21st Century did see the return of pockets in the women clothing lines, but they are generally very small or even fake.
The phone sizes have become bigger. The general rule of the pocket is that your whole palm can go inside it comfortably, and hence the latest mobiles should fit: Payal Singhal, Designer
Pockets don’t make sense on Indian clothes like kurtis. For men’s wear, a pocket is a functional element, but for women it’s more like a design element: Anamika Khanna, Designer
