#pocketfail

[ysabetwordsmith]

Given audience discussion under "Penny's Pocket Parity," I have decided to make a separate post about #pocketfail.

Pocket parity is a serious issue in sexism, because women's clothes often have no pockets or inferior ones. Rational dress was one previous rebellion that included ample pockets and other practicalities. Study results clearly show that women's pockets are smaller than men's pockets and hold fewer items.

Closely related, women's clothing often shows flimsy construction because fashion designers assume it will be worn only one season, and fast fashion is even worse. Even "clothes designed to last" are now expected to survive only 2-3 years. Many features of women's clothing -- lace, loose knits, synthetic fabrics, sequins, beads, glitter, foil print, etc. -- are especially fragile and prone to damage that requires replacing the garment.

Because bad publicity costs companies money, they dislike it. This means social media can be used to shame companies into behaving better and/or making better products.

So I'm introducing the idea of #pocketfail in hopes of discouraging bad pocket parameters and encouraging good ones.


What constitutes #pocketfail?

* Something doesn't fit in a pocket.

* Something fits into a pocket, but rips the garment.

* The pocket exists, but the cut of the garment makes it difficult or impossible to put both a body into the garment and items into the pocket at the same time, thus rendering the pocket unusable regardless of its theoretical size.

* Between feminine and masculine versions of an equivalent garment, the feminine version has smaller and/or fewer pockets.

* A garment that typically has pockets on both sides (like shorts) has a pocket on only one side, or a garment that typically has pockets on front and back (like jeans) has them only on one of those.

* Fake "fashion pockets" that don't actually open do not count as pockets at all.

* Flimsy design causes a garment to fall apart in less than six months, within which category #pocketfail concerns failures in or around a pocket, whether or not the proximate cause of damage involved trying to insert something into the pocket.


EDIT 6/23/19:
Should we also use #pocketwin?

Laura G proposes #pocketwin for garments that have good pockets.  This covers clothes with big, sturdy, abundant pockets.  Similar to the above, I suggest taking a picture of the pocket with stuff in it.  If you want to get fancy with garments like cargo pants which can carry a LOT of content, first shoot the garment loaded and then spread the stuff around it for the next photo, grouping items per pocket.

#pocketwin rewards companies for producing quality goods, and helps other pocket activists find clothes they want to buy.


What can you do about #pocketfail?

* Upon encountering a pocket failure, take a picture of it and post that to social media with the hashtag #pocketfail.

* The most crucial information to include is the brand name of the garment, along with the line name if it belongs to an identifiable collection within the brand, so other folks can avoid buying it.

* If you're posting to a blog or other venue where you can add more information, it helps to include details such as the measurements of the pocket and the thing you tried to put in it, comparison measurements of equivalent feminine vs. masculine versions, or how long you've owned it before it fell apart.

* If you have subsequently replaced the garment with one that has more, larger, and/or sturdier pockets then you may include the replacement brand/line so that other folks can find it.

* When shopping, prefer brands that produce sturdy, long-wearing clothes with adequate pockets. Know how to identify high-quality clothes.

* Watch for crowdfunding campaigns, new businesses, and other opportunities to support the launch of clothing lines which provide adequate quality and pockets.

* Link to articles about pocket parity, discussions or examples of #pocketfail, and reviews of clothes that have good pockets.

* Comment below with your thoughts about #pocketfail.

Comments

[sulien]

Thank you! The lack of decent pockets in women's clothing has always annoyed the living daylights out of me and I used to buy men's 501 shrink to fit Levi's for that reason (back when they were worth buying). :-/ These days, the best jeans jeans I've found for decent pockets and good construction are LL Bean's Double L jeans (at least the last time I bought them) and Dickies jeans. I always buy mine in late December and early January when they've got excellent coupon codes and sales available, so they wind up being priced on a par with what you can pick up at Wally World.

Also, I've subscribed to your account, you make interesting and very informative posts with great links. :)

[erulisse]

for a long time I wore men's pants and particularly dickie's khakis for this reason but I've gained enough weight that my curves don't do well in men's pants anymore

[gatheringrivers]

Ooooo thanks for the tip on the sale times! I've been looking for something a bit better than the crap that shows up at The Great Evil. :)

[fianna9]

Not Your Daughter Jeans often have decent pockets and fit. More expensive (around $110 a pair if you can't find them on sale)

[sulien]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll check those out the next time I need a pair. I live in jeans. :)

[(Anonymous)]

This is one of the reasons I wear scrub pants out in the wild when not at work. The good brands of scrubs stock deep well enforced pockets often with seperate smaller nested pockets for other items and there are lots of pockets on one garment.

If one is wearing a scrub top with deep front sewn and side seam pockets, a scrub jacket, and scrub pants, one can cart around a sizable kit of items comfortably

[pronker]

A most appropriate nod to scrubs! They are great. I just recently consigned to the rag bag a dress that was worn weekly for five years and even though I wear slacks only 1/25 of the time, a lovely scrubs pair lasted about the same. Slacks generally are worn for maybe three hours when I do wear them; they squeeze me around the waist, and not in a fun way.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>I just recently consigned to the rag bag a dress that was worn weekly for five years<<

I have some things that I've had for decades. My clothes go from "wear out of the house" to "wear at home" to "grubbies" to "rag bag." If they stop fitting or I decide I dislike them, then they go to a thrift store.

>> and even though I wear slacks only 1/25 of the time, a lovely scrubs pair lasted about the same. Slacks generally are worn for maybe three hours when I do wear them; they squeeze me around the waist, and not in a fun way.<<

I can't wear things with a tight waistband. I typically shop for things I can wear around my hips instead.

[starbit]

I stopped wearing womens pants about 5 years ago due to a combination of gender and pockets, but now that i'm starting to actually care about clothing instead of wearing the same pants, jacket and shoes with one of 6 nearly identical shirts i'm finding it hard to find jackets (even for men) with pockets that can comfortably hold a smallish wallet (especially in the xxs-s sizes that I tend to wear when I want things to mostly fit)
I'm *this* close to sewing my own canvas vest with 10 pockets, but I can't find one in my size that actually has pockets. most mens cargo vests stop at a medium and I need an xs. meanwhile, on the womens side, they have a curvier cut than I (a mon-binary human) would like. and shitty pockets

Alas!

[ysabetwordsmith]

That sucks.

Regarding the availability of XS, I recommend that you try Japan or other Asian providers. They have much smaller people.

>>I'm *this* close to sewing my own canvas vest with 10 pockets, but I can't find one in my size that actually has pockets.<<

Good idea. Patch pockets are easy to add once you find a vest pattern you like. Actual safari pockets with expanding folds and top flaps are a little more challenging.

One shortcut would be to search thrift stores for garments with good pockets, and simply cut them up for components. Sew those pockets onto a base of canvas or denim.

*chuckle* If you look at the examples from the poem, there is a pair of BDUs with green base and camo pockets. You know where that came from? Hippie chicks cutting the pockets off their boyfriend's wrecked BDUs. And now someone is selling them made that way. LOL

https://sewingplums.com/2011/05/21/lots-of-ease-and-big-pockets/

[bairnsidhe]

There's a good website for people who like dresses with pockets:
eshakti.com has a ton of neat patterns, they do custom fits to your measurements for only a small upcharge, and every single dress they make has pockets. One of my favorite dresses is a green vintage look from them, with a sweetheart empire waist and pockets I can fit a Kindle in.

They also have formal wear for a cheaper and more practical option for bridesmaid dresses (and since customizing to fit comes with customizing necklines, sleeves, and hem length, each bridesmaid can get what she feels best in, in the same dress.)

[(Anonymous)]

The only clothes I own that have decent fit-a-hand-or-phone-inside pockets are a couple of coats, a pair of sweatpants, and a hoodie I inherrited from a parent that is older than I am.
Mostly its not an issue, since I don't carry stuff in pockets because I forget to empty my pockets because /I don't carry stuff in pockets/, but I did make a hang around the neck 'pocket' so I can carry my phone around the house while doing stuff.
For clothes to experiment on, try Red White and Blue Thrift stores - the one near me has a huge selection of clothes, and they usually have some men's merino wool sweaters that can be altered to fit, or cannibalized for the good quality wool. They also seem to have a bunch of bikes whenever I go in.

[(Anonymous)]

Should we also use #pocketwin when we find garment with good pockets?
--Laura G

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I have edited this into the post, thanks.

[arlie]

Fortunately, I'm large enough and (I guess) slim hipped enough that I can wear men's slacks. I pretty much always do, though I occassionally try women's in the hopes of a better range of colours, or even a better fit. My latest job (a bit over 2 years now) has me carrying a lot of electronic devices that can't be worn in cases on my belt (what I did for decades, but suitable devices/cases are harder to find now) so I'm switching over to almost always wearing cargo pants, and have never found decent cargo pants sized and labelled for women.

Of course the other advantage of men's clothes is that the sizes generally have some resemblance to standard measurements ;-(

At any rate, good luck with this. I won't be much help - I don't use twitter, or pay attention to fashion, or advertisements in general. (Except that I noticed the recent fashion for pre-damaged clothes - lots of relatively well-paid engineers looking like rag bags currently, and it's no longer obvious that their clothes came pre-damaged, except that I saw them when they were new. People clearly aren't ready to pay to replace the fashionable junk they bought, or else won't buy more of these pre-damaged clothes, and the fashion industry hasn't yet moved on.)

[imhilien]

I remember years ago I had a two-piece suit with fake pockets and remember feeling so confused... they had forgot to put the pockets in?

No, they hadn't forgotten. *sigh*

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That's pathetic.

Sometimes I wonder if it's sheer laziness --
fewer pockets, less work. 0_o

Re: Yes ...

[arlie]

Aesthetics - pockets interfere with the hang of a garment.

I'd include some rant about this afflicting women more than men, because of a culture where women exist for men's aesthetic and sexual pleasure, etc. etc. - except I've been dealing with Apple a lot recently, and they pick aesthetics ahead of usability routinely, for products which are not gender-associated. And then there was last year's fashion of pre-damaged pants, with their knees halfway to ripped out at purchase - which I saw on fashion conscious young men as well as women.

I think there is less social permission for females to push back against non-functional aesthetics - but designers are pushing this on everyone. (See also architecture goofs of various kinds... in no way limited to bad kitchens, which would again be a supposedly feminine domain .. though bad kitchens are all too common.)

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Aesthetics - pockets interfere with the hang of a garment. <<

True for some garments and some pockets. Certainly women who don't want that problem should be free to buy clothes without pockets. I myself am not a fan of butt pockets as I dislike sitting on them. However, that doesn't make it okay to deprive everyone else of pockets. The only attention I pay to fashion is to note when things I like become available, so I can buy plenty of them to have after they go back out of fashion.

>>except I've been dealing with Apple a lot recently, and they pick aesthetics ahead of usability routinely, for products which are not gender-associated. <<

It is a general flaw of America that people tend to sell the sizzle, not the steak. It causes crappy products. This is worse in women's wear, but not exclusive to it.

>> I think there is less social permission for females to push back against non-functional aesthetics <<

There is. Periodically women rebel anyhow, as with Rational Dress.

>> but designers are pushing this on everyone. <<

Yes, but modern American men are more likely to say "fuck it" and refuse to buy that crap -- and unlike women, they have plenty of other options.

>> (See also architecture goofs of various kinds... in no way limited to bad kitchens, which would again be a supposedly feminine domain .. though bad kitchens are all too common.) <<

Again, worse for women, but not exclusive to them. Bad architecture hurts everyone, and it's getting rapidly worse. If anyone's left in thousand years, they'll wonder what the fuck people were thinking. 0_o

Try this ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

While researching something else, I stumbled across this dress with ginormous pockets. They look big enough to store a tablet computer on each side. It comes in Black, White, Purple, Turquoise, Light Gray, Peach, or Periwinkle.

[(Anonymous)]

I did a thread...
https://twitter.com/LauraGrowNyberg/status/1144245426993926144?s=09

--Laura G

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

That's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of. :D

[sulien]

Pardon the second reply, but I just ran across this blog post about hacking deeper/larger pockets and thought you all might be interested. Link to the Yarn Punk blog post on 'yarn punking' your pockets. The link to the tutorial on how to yarn punk things in general is located here. The blogger suggests worsted weight yarn which is pretty bulky to make a pocket to actually use, so I would probably suggest going to a sport or even sock weight yarn (something machine washable that won't shrink or felt) and using moss stitch instead of single crochet to make the pocket breathe a bit more and be less bulky.