Why Are Women's Pockets So Small?

The day-to-day fashion dilemma facing women on all corners of the globe begs an answer to the centuries-old question: Why are women’s pockets so small?

In order to properly evaluate this controversy which is – quite literally – attached to half the population at the hip, one must analyze the history of the tiny compartment now found on garments of all shapes and sizes.

The original design for women’s pockets.

Pockets have not always been in the exact form we now associate them with.

Specifically, women’s pockets were not always attached as they were actually separate pieces that could be worn with different outfits interchangeably.

In the 17^th to late 19^th Century pockets were often worn under a women’s skirt and above their under-petticoat.

Women were able to access these separate pockets found between their layers by openings in the side seams of their petticoats.

On the other hand, men’s pockets were sewn into each of their garment pieces similar to our items of clothing in the modern-day.

What were pockets used for?

Similar to today where we stash our valuables into the pockets of our jeans, pockets of the time were a place for their owners to keep their small personal items such as money, knives, keys, snacks, or thimbles.

Even women’s pockets had similar storage space within them comparative to a modern handbag.

Pockets and thieves.

The term “pickpocket” came about when thieves would slash the strings attaching women’s pockets in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The pocket debate often becomes a topic of gender equality, with theft being an example of the disadvantage women have from using smaller pockets.

A women’s bag, which because of small pocket size is often what carries her most valuable belongings, can be stolen much easier than a man’s belongings straight from his sewn-in pocket.

The origins of pick-pocketing trace this trend back through the centuries.

Designer Christian Dior stated in 1954, “Men have pockets to keep things in, women for decoration.”

Why pockets were once unfashionable for women.

Pockets went out of fashion in the 1790s making way for what would now be considered tiny impractical handbags though many women still chose to wear pockets.

It wasn’t until later in the 1800s when we saw the shift toward smaller pockets.

Slimming silhouettes provided a difficult backdrop for large pockets, causing them to shrink and become more decorative pieces rather than utilitarian.

Men’s clothing still used pockets as a staple, but women began their full transition to the handbag which continued on until the 1920s.

Pockets are back in.

The 1920s was also the same decade that saw women taking on male-inspired garments, though still not in the mainstream.

This was what brought the pocket back into a women’s wardrobe.

After a Women’s Wear Daily article published in 1933 called out the potential of women pushing into what is traditionally men’s styling and silhouettes, more and more women began gravitating toward the style.

Though men’s styles were becoming increasingly prevalent in women’s clothing, so was the purse.

This kept the function of pockets in women’s garments to be less about utility and more about style.