It Has Pockets!

Plain English

Author: Vijayalaxmi Hegde

A drawing of the Scott eVest jacket in the style of a raincoat. All the pockets are listed. Red lines point to where the pockets are.

This Scott eVest jacket for women has 20 pockets.

This is serious: women need pockets just as much men do. It shouldn’t be such a big deal, really. But it is because it’s so hard to find pockets in women’s dresses.

Women’s bodies have curves.

Some 19th century writers argued that women had four external bulges already — two breasts and two hips. A money pocket would cause a fifth bulge and make the dress go out of shape. This cheap explanation aside, it is true that women’s bodies have curves. Pockets may cause the dress to widen.

When women's clothes no longer had pockets, they had to carry everything attached to a belt.

-------- Advert --------

But whether pockets spoil the look of a dress or not, women should be able to choose between dresses that have pockets and those that don’t. The whole point is that currently there is hardly any choice.

Women like to go without handbags too.

The other justification provided for the absence of pockets is that women usually have handbags while men don’t. But there are times when we want to just pop into the neighborhood grocery store. We’d like to quickly stuff our house keys and phone into our pocket and be off.

Pockets are practical.

Pockets may seem like a trivial issue when compared to other issues that women face. But it’s true that every bit counts in making women’s lives easier. A pocket is a simple, practical thing. It is also one more step towards making clothes that men and women can wear. And women want it.

-------- Advert --------

I usually wear salwar kameezes or informal trousers with short tops. And I can tell you without checking how many of those in my wardrobe have pockets: just two. Compare this to the fact that my pair of jeans and two formal trousers do have pockets. In India the assumption seems to be that non-Western clothing or more feminine dresses don’t need pockets.

My daughters won't go pocket-less.

I’m making sure my daughters’ clothes are stitched with pockets. They shall not go pocket-less into the world.

Clothes with proper pockets are tweet-worthy.

Twitter post: I have a new vicar dress. It has POCKETS #pockets @collared. 3 photos. Kate is a young woman with shoulder-length blond, straight hair. She is wearing a black swing skirt dress with a vicars collar. The dress has a yellow seam. In one photo she has her hands in the pockets. In the others she is having fun posing like a fashion model. The post has 16.9 K likes.

Reverend Kate Bottley from England

Asked what a vicar carries in their pockets she said, “Microphone pack, tissues, dog biscuits, hand sanitizer, a mask, my phone, and a pen.”

Laura Pausini

Singer Laura Pausini wore a dress with pockets to the Oscars - proving elegant gowns don't have to go without pockets.

-------- Advert --------

Archna the Pocket Passionista

Archna has long brown hair. She is wearing a knee-lenght dress with vertical wavy stripes. She has her hands in the pocket.

Photo: Pocket Passionista on Instagram

Archna runs a blog on pocket-related topics. Archna once went to a sale at a store and picked up a dress. She loved how it looked, but what made the decision was that it had pockets. Since then, she’s always looked out for dresses with pockets. On Instagram Archna offers recommendations for dresses with pockets.

The Pocket Passionista skirt

Archna has long straight black hair. She is walking down a street in the sun, wearing a turquoise patterned top and a black, down to the knee lenght skirt. She has her hands in the skirt pockets.

Photo: Pocket Passionista on Instagram

Archna has also designed a fabulous skirt with pockets. It can be bought on her website.

-------- Advert --------

Scott eVest coat for the pocket crazy

This Scott eVest coat for women has 20 pockets.

It’s as if ScotteVest were out to right all the pocket wrongs in the world. They make and sell clothes with many, many pockets. Hidden pockets are everywhere – even in the sleeves. Yet they look smart. Their women’s range comes with the same number of pockets as the men’s.

The Scott eVest Penny Coat has 19 pockets.

Scott Jordan founded the company about 20 years ago. He was a lawyer working at a dotcom then. It struck him that our clothes could not carry the gadgets that were part of our daily life. There would be the other usual stuff such as keys, passport, change, sunglasses. That’s when he came up with the idea of producing clothes with many practical pockets.