Exasperated - Historic Reason Women's Trousers Don't Have Pockets

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Exasperated - Historic Reason Women's Trousers Don't Have Pockets

A group of women have taken to social media to ask why women's trousers either have tiny pockets or none at all - as many come to realise just how much pocket space is given to men

It's something women have been complaining about for decades - but still, the problem hasn't been resolved.

If you've ever compared the pocket size between men's and women's trousers, you'll likely have noticed men have almost twice the room than women.

So rather than store your phone, purse, and keys in your trouser pockets, most women have to carry a bag wherever they go. Wanting to know why, a group of women have taken to social media to ask, "Why don't women's pants have functional pockets?', with many claiming it's unfair and impractical.

According to How Stuff Works, pockets only started to be sewn into men's clothing about 400 years ago - but this feature was omitted from women's garments. It is said this was to preserve their slimmer silhouettes as it was argued carrying items in pockets would bulk out their clothing with unflattering shapes.

Providing another possible reason, a statement reads: "Some say it was a way to keep women powerless. If they had no way to secretly carry items around, it would be harder for them to travel independently or conduct clandestine affairs."

However, in 1891, The Rational Dress Society turned on this decision and started sewing pockets into the dresses of the day. A few decades on, in the 1920s, fashion designer Coco Chanel added pockets to jackets, paving the way for them to be introduced into jeans in the 1970s.

The statement adds: "A lot of women's clothing is still predominantly pocketless, or equipped with tiny pockets that can't hold more than a key. Some experts say this is due to male dominance in the fashion industry — puzzling in its own right — in addition to designers who believe fashion is more important than function. (Christian Dior is alleged to have said, 'Men have pockets to keep things in, women for decoration.')"

In 2014, Mashable surveyed five fashion brands about their pocket size to see whether they were large enough to fit an iPhone 6 - the largest iPhone at the time. The study reports "executives said they were considering enlarging the pockets on their women's pants, but made no promises".

Ten years on and women continue to complain about the equality in pocket size between men's and women's clothing, with one Reddit user claiming:

"It has to do with figure profile. Hour glass curves are disrupted by full pockets. You can make it more complicated by mixing in advertisers and designers picking up on needing an alternative storage container(s), and seeing the purse as a cash cow. But in this case, the aesthetics came first."

[draww]