
Women's Pockets are Inferior - dsr12
https://pudding.cool/2018/08/pockets/
======
peterwwillis
I don't think we needed a data analysis to know women's pockets are in a sad
state.

Here are bunch of links on why they are this way:
[https://www.marketplace.org/2014/09/18/tech/why-womens-
pocke...](https://www.marketplace.org/2014/09/18/tech/why-womens-pockets-are-
useless-history) [https://www.quora.com/Womens-Fashion-and-Style-Why-do-
girls-...](https://www.quora.com/Womens-Fashion-and-Style-Why-do-girls-jeans-
have-smaller-pockets-than-guys-jeans)
[https://www.racked.com/2016/9/19/12865560/politics-of-
pocket...](https://www.racked.com/2016/9/19/12865560/politics-of-pockets-
suffragettes-women)
[https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/the-g...](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/the-
gender-politics-of-pockets/380935/)

In terms of fashion, weird pockets and false garments are a thing for men,
too. Men's suits, for example, used to be cut much looser and wider. You could
keep half your dirty laundry in those pockets. Now fashionable suits are slim
or skinny, and anything in those pockets stick out like a symbiotic mutant
tumor reading Arnold Schwarzenegger's mind.

But at least they _have_ pockets. Men's fashion garments sometimes have false
pockets, but most men's garments are predominately functional, so the false
pocket for men is extremely rare. But women's garments are heavily fashion-
oriented, where adding pockets doesn't make financial sense. So because
women's garments are more fashion-forward, they're less likely to be
functional.

Besides sexism and politics, what it seems to come down to is men don't mind
looking frumpy, and women really do mind. (Unless you're under 25, and then
the hipster fashion trend for both is looking as much like a thrift store hobo
from the 90's as humanly possible, which accepts wearing dad jeans with
functional pockets)

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tinalumfoil
> Pockets, unlike purses, are hidden, private spaces.

Purses are private spaces. And I assure you the baggiest cargo pants in the
world aren't keeping that Note 8 hidden.

> And sure, we could all carry handbags ....men’s pants pockets are basically
> the pockets of our dreams.

It's far more socially acceptable for a woman to wear men's jeans than men to
carry woman's handbags (speaking for the US). If you're buying pants that
don't fit your needs, shame on you.

EDIT: I'm getting some well-deserved criticism below for being a bit harsh
above. I don't speak as someone who has worn woman's clothing or has had to
deal with their shortcomings, and I don't have any issues with the analysis (I
didn't that part too closely, I always thought woman's pockets being smaller
was common knowledge). My issue is the false characterization as a patriarchal
design choice ("patriarchy of pockets") as opposed to a pervasive fashion
choice which nobody is obligated to participate in.

~~~
Skunkleton
I carry a Timbuk2 small bag pretty much everywhere, and have been subject to
all sorts of discrimination.

~~~
watwut
I want to know whether you are trolling or are serious.

~~~
Skunkleton
I'm serious. I carry one of these [1]. The most common problem I have is w/
businesses getting sketched out. Costco asks to look inside it more often than
not for example. Its not like it is one of the large ones, it is pretty much a
glorified fanny pack, and is about the same size as an average purse. Costco
has never asked to look inside my wife's purse.

[1] [https://www.timbuk2.com/collections/all-messenger-
bags](https://www.timbuk2.com/collections/all-messenger-bags)

------
loco5niner
This isn't about equality.

This is about the majority of women wanting something different than what the
majority of men want. Men are more likely to be utilitarian, women are more
likely to want to look nice.

The market is simply providing what women want and have proven will pay for.
Same with men.

I can still sympathize... the struggle is real.

------
cwkoss
When is someone going to make a startup that just tailors women's pants to
increase pocket size? You'd get so much PR buzz for free.

EDIT:

One way to do this is as a reshipper - customer buys a new item, you order
item to factory, alter pockets, then ship the product to end customer.

"butWithBiggerPockets.com"

Sizing issues could be a challenge though - if you alter an item, it can't be
returned.

~~~
tolle
Like a tailor?

~~~
cwkoss
Can't get VC money or free PR unless you apply the thin coat of buzzwords and
shiny tech - should probably add a VR P2P neural network blockchain protocol
to the business model for good measure.

~~~
hefeweizen
"We are proud to launch Pants 2.0, our custom tailored solution for all your
storage problems".

------
cwkoss
Those graphics that show the average pocket size and shape with ghost lines
for each sample are really cool. Very well designed page.

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fossuser
I think a reasonable startup idea would be a women's fashion brand that makes
this their focus - clothes with good pockets (dresses, pants, etc.).

~~~
twunde
I've actually thought about this multiple times (this complaint comes up once
a month minimum). The big deal to me is that it's super-easy to copy. You'd
spend a few years marketing and growing a startup and then once it became
popular, every major competitor would copy it. There's no moat. I think at
that point you'd need branding strong enough for a stand-alone fashion firm
that's not tied to just large pockets. Doable, but not my wheelhouse

~~~
cwkoss
Incorporate as social purpose corporation and dissolve once average pocket on
the market reaches desired size.

Branding about "buy our clothes: put us out of business" (then explaining the
corporate self destruct mechanism) could catch people's attention

------
jdougan
I think what many women may need is to actually use pants with good pockets
for awhile, then they may change their priorities.

"Women Wear Cargo Shorts For A Week":
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cthA22qL9AI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cthA22qL9AI)

------
katpas
I can't fit my one plus 6 in most of my jacket pockets let alone jeans. It
means I'm walking around with my phone in my hand when I go out mid work day
which is super annoying. Good to see some data on how far off pocket size
actually is.

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youseecomrade
It's time to bring fanny packs back, but please don't turn them into power
banks.

~~~
privong
> It's time to bring fanny packs back, but please don't turn them into power
> banks.

They're already on their way back. Several friends in Colorado have told me
they've been thinking about buying one or have bought one. I'm also starting
to see college kids here at U Florida wearing them around.

~~~
erk__
The "new" thing seems to be wearing them around the shoulder with the pack on
the back, at least I have seen a couple of people doing that.

~~~
privong
The ugrads I've seen have been wearing them around the waist, but now that you
mention it, I do recall seeing older folks (older than ugrads, I mean) wearing
them over the shoulder.

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jimworm
Pockets cost money to make, and therefore could be removed to cut costs if
buyers do not value them. Do men value pockets more than women?

Speaking as an owner of very few items of clothing, just one item with
inadequate pockets causes a lot of inconvenience, so my tolerance for them is
zero. Manufacturers of inadequate pockets can wipe this segment right out of
their market - although I only have evidence to confirm segment size of 1.

------
etrautmann
why was this flagged?

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watwut
I have pants with pockets where phone fits and love it. But damm, it took a
lot of time to find them.

------
JoeAltmaier
Men's shorts have useless pockets - everything falls out of them when I sit in
a car.

~~~
anewone
Trousers as well. Kept losing my phone until I got a case.

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nwbrown
I am in full support of women's clothing getting oversized pockets.

Especially if it means I can wear cargo pants without getting weird looks from
women.

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trukterious
I remember at my college dining hall there'd usually be a row of keys on the
table in front of any row of women sat down to dinner.

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clairity
this comes up often in conversation among women. form vs. function. why can't
we have both?

for easy reach, my iphone typically goes in a back pcoket if i have one
(usually jeans of some sort), or a side pocket on my laptop bag if not.

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jasonkostempski
I am a man and I've never had pockets that can hold a phone bigger than my old
4S, and every phone since the 4S is much bigger than the 4S. But I don't want
pockets to change, I want phones to get smaller again. Remember when making
phones smaller was the trend?

~~~
rhinoceraptor
What pants are you wearing? I can easily fit my girlfriend's 8+ in my Levi's
pocket below my X, which I often do since she often has no pockets. The other
pocket has my wallet, airpods and a small flashlight with some room to spare.

~~~
jasonkostempski
My pants may have been made even before the 4S.

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jeffbax
UNIVERSAL CARGO SHORTS NOW

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agounaris
This is 2018, who is using pockets? Everything is on the cloud!

