Dear Friends,

Do you know that feeling a when you find a new dress, try it on, love the way it fits and then the most amazing thing happens … you discover that it has pockets!

A hidden treasure!

A cavern big enough to fit your phone, some money, and your ID.

For women this is the holy grail of dress shopping and is such a rare find that you can’t wait to show it off; however, you are calculated with the reveal.

You’re at a party and a friend asks you a question like “What’s the name of that actor from that show? What else has he been in?” With a sly smile you say, “Oh, let me look that up”, and you reach your hand into the folds of your dress to produce a phone. “That dress has pockets!” they all exclaim? “Why, yes. Yes, it does” you respond, full of pride and excitement over this simple, yet necessary enhancement. So rare. So magical.

Pocket-less clothing for women is a global issue and a battle that we have been fighting for a very long time.

In the 17th century the first pockets were sewn into clothing, which replaced the previous practice of tying a small sack around your waist. Men’s pockets were sewn into jackets and trousers while women had a small pocket sewn into the underside of their petticoat. Unless you wanted to cause a scandal, accessing this space was nearly impossible for women. As fashion began to evolve, women started carrying small bags called ‘reticules’ that were so tiny that only a piece of cloth and a coin would fit inside.

In the 1800’s the “Rational Dress Society” was founded, and a group of women took the first steps towards progressive changes to what women were required to wear. Some of the more notable changes that they helped to change include eliminating tight fitting corsets, heavy weighted skirts, and high heeled shoes. This movement worked to ensure that society would accept women who were dressed more comfortably, yet beautifully.

I don’t know what the founders of the “Rational Dress Society” would think about what women wear in today’s society, but I am sure glad that corsets and large heavy dresses are not a part of my wardrobe. Well, I could maybe get down with a corset in certain situations. I wonder what they would think of the “jammie pants” phenomenon?

Listen, I understand that back in the 1800’s and even early 1900’s it was a much different time. Before the women’s rights movement, women had to depend on their husbands to provide for them. They weren’t permitted to have their own money, and they certainly didn’t conduct business on their own. A few powerhouse women did, but that’s a discussion for another time.

Well, it’s not 1902, it is 2022. Women are ‘allowed’ to carry their own money and personal possessions. We quite often conduct business, and this may be a shock to anyone who just arrived here from 1902, but not all women are married.

We are an advanced society.

We put men on the moon.

We have robots.

We have made incredible discoveries in medicine.

Why then, with all this advanced technology and societal changes, can I not find a pair of dress pants with real pockets? Or a suit jacket with an actual pocket?


Do you know what’s worse than no pockets? Fakey pockets. That’s right. You try on a new pair of pants, a dress or jacket and you get excited because you see the rippled edge of where the pocket is. You reach in, try to wedge your fingertips in to see how deep it goes and your heart sinks. That’s right, it’s fakey pocket. No real pocket, just the seam where it would have gone, had someone sewn the extra material into that spot and opened it up. Fakey pocket strikes again.

Then you have the cruelest joke of all; when there is a pocket, but it’s sewn shut. Yes, the pocket is there, the extra material is where it should be … but there are a few stitches in the top keeping you from actually accessing the cavern beneath. Should you cut the thread so you can use the pocket? Will it ruin how the jacket or pants look if you do that? Is it a trick? If there was supposed to be a pocket, it wouldn’t have been sewn closed. Why even put it there? What is this trickery?

Once in a while you find clothing that does indeed have pockets. Jeans are a great example of fashion companies getting more modern with their designs. However, the size and functionality of pockets in women’s clothing versus men’s is extremely disproportionate. According to an article in ‘The Pudding’, “on average, the pockets in women’s jeans are 48% shorter and 6.5% narrower than men’s pockets.”

Ladies, how many times have you tried to slip your phone into the back pocket of your jeans, only to have it stick halfway out? Or you try to put something into a front pocket, and it bulges and creates some discomfort?

Since women have been fighting this fight for over two hundred years, I don’t expect it to be solved anytime soon. Perhaps it’s time for the “Rational Dress Society” to get reestablished? They did away with corsets and heavy hoop skirts (and I thank them for that), so maybe this can be their next cause and where do I sign up?

Be well,

~ Kerri

The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of any entity that this author represents.