Opinion The pocket problem: How fashion still fails women one outfit at a time
Functionality in women’s clothing still has a long way to go. Until then, the fight must go on, one pocket (preferably a pair) at a time
That these labels still must highlight the pocket as an additional feature reinforces the sad reality: Functionality in women’s clothing still has a long way to go. Until then, the fight must go on, one pocket (preferably a pair) at a time (AP Photo/Vianney Le Caer) Cate Blanchett’s look at the Venice Film Festival made a statement in more ways than one. This was the second time the actress wore the chic black Armani Privé gown in which she had previously stunned at the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards. In an industry where each new look carries currency, Blanchett — like many Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities — was advocating sustainability. But it was her cool stance on the red carpet with both her hands in the pockets of her dress that gave the three-year-old outfit a visual upgrade.
Around the same time, in Mumbai, at the special screening of her film Songs of Paradise, actress Saba Azad was caught in a faux pas as she, as if by habit, attempted to put her hands in the non-existent pockets of her brocade pants by Payal Khandwala. She was visibly awkward as she first put her hands behind her, eventually resting them on her waist. However, women anywhere and everywhere will empathise.
The deliberation on pockets in contemporary women’s fashion has been ongoing for years, yet somehow, understanding the need for this simple functional element seems to elude the makers of women’s clothing – designer or otherwise. The way a woman’s eyes still light up when she finds a pair of pockets in a dress or a kurta is proof that this sartorial detail is still a rare phenomenon. Remember the TikTok song by Brittany Law – “It’s Got Pockets” – that became a rage during the pandemic? There was a reason why everybody from actors and influencers to ordinary women danced to the number, flaunting outfits that boasted the seemingly inconsequential “keeper of things”. Women across age groups, nationalities and professions need and desire pockets in everything they wear.
The necessity for functional pockets for women was realised as far back as the 17th century, when, like men, women also carried detachable pockets tied to their outfits with ropes. Fashion, however, seems to have progressed thereon only for men. While their pockets became sewn into the linings of their trousers, making it both stylish and convenient, for women, the dream became more distant. According to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the tie-on pockets were “in common use from about 1650 to the end of the 19th century, and some even later”. Meant to contain personal items, including money, the tie-on pocket was often placed somewhere in between two layers of petticoat, making it difficult to access in public. So while a man could pull out his wallet by sliding his hand in and out of his pocket, a woman would have to practically undress to do the same.
Two centuries later, the frustration continues. The layers from women’s clothing have disappeared, silhouettes have become sleeker, and tailoring is better defined. The pockets? Still at large. They are missing, even in trousers and blazers, let alone dresses or ethnic outfits like kurtas or saris, forcing women to carry handbags, whether or not they want to.
For the longest time, women’s trousers, jeans, blazers and other modern Western silhouettes have offered an illusion of pockets. Brands like Zara, H&M, Mango and Marks & Spencer have, time and again, been accused of adding fake pockets – where the stitch of the pocket is visible on the surface but it’s sewn shut – to their women’s clothing as if to trick a toddler throwing tantrums into calming down. Putting aesthetics over function shows a disregard for women’s needs. After all, inconvenience is never fashionable.
There has been some course correction over the years, presumably after customer complaints, persistent articles and studies on the subject, and books like Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close (2023) by Hannah Carlson who, in a The Guardian interview, had noted how “the true ‘age of the pocket’ has now arrived, because everything necessary for daily life has become so small. Cash is of limited use… Phones, and perhaps a lipstick, a key or a comb, are really all a woman needs, and this might mean we are not lumbered with bags any more”.
Even as the fashion industry is becoming progressive, it seems it takes a woman to understand a woman. Although the pocket is yet to become a conspicuous phenomenon, women-led brands, in India, like Truebrowns (Udita Bansal), Qua (Rupanshi and Divya Agarwal), Pockets13 (Jayalakshmi Ranjith), FableStreet (Ayushi Gudwani) and BlissClub (Minu Margeret) are steering a quiet revolution by incorporating pockets in most of their designs. Anita Dongre has started adding pockets to even lehengas. Why should the bride have to abandon her phone on D-Day if the groom doesn’t? There’s also “The Sufi Studio” (Varsha Devjani and Lajwanti Kulkarni) that has introduced the pre-stitched sari with a cleverly hidden pocket, saving women the trouble of juggling the loose end of the drape with one hand and a bag with the essentials in another.
That these labels still must highlight the pocket as an additional feature reinforces the sad reality: Functionality in women’s clothing still has a long way to go. Until then, the fight must go on, one pocket (preferably a pair) at a time.
trisha.mukherjee@expressindia.com
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