It seems like the fashion industry doesn’t know that women like pockets, too. No, seriously. Whenever you go into a store and hold up a pair of men’s pants next to a pair of women’s pants, you see that there are stark contrasts between the two. Sure, there’s the whole debacle about how men’s pants are sized vs. women’s, but that’s for another week. I’m talking about the pockets – or lack thereof.
About a month ago, I saw this video on Facebook that talked about the fashion industry and pocket discrepancy. Of course, I laughed because I knew it was true. But I didn’t realize how relevant that video would become a few days later.
One of my close family friends’ little sister had her iPhone stolen at school (and by little I mean, like, 14). Her older brothers kept telling her that if she hadn’t had it in her back pocket then she wouldn’t have been pick-pocketed. After about ten minutes of them all arguing about how she could have prevented this catastrophe (which, trust me, is actually a short argument for them), I stepped in and mentioned that, as women, our phones – and barely anything else – can fit in our front pockets. If she had done that, it would have been confiscated by a school official because it would be seen sticking out of her pocket, or even worse, fallen onto the floor because it didn’t fit and cracked or stepped on by the hundreds of kids roaming the halls. They then said she could’ve kept it in her backpack, and her response was the same as mine: what was stopping someone from unzipping her bookbag when she went to the bathroom to steal her phone out then? This is the real world, people, not CNU’s campus where honor code reigns over all.
Women’s jeans, and other pants for that matter, aren’t made to be functional. They’re made to accentuate our bodies, making them seem more appealing to the male eye. That’s the problem. The jeans we have to choose from don’t really offer much practicality, just a nice butt – and even that’s a hit or miss because designers don’t really seem to understand that each woman’s body is different (just like I talked about awhile ago).
You would think that plus-size women’s pants would have pockets since a large portion of society seems to think we’re not worthy of attractive and/or functional clothing designs. Wrong. Because our clothes are so ridiculous anyways, we definitely don’t have pockets. Our pants consist of those pocket-less, zipper-less, pull-ons that The Golden Girls would wear. No, I’m serious. Just take a look at your average department store Plus-Size section – not the over-priced Torrid or Lane Bryant “specialty stores” – and tell me that the pants are something that you would want to wear.
Trust me when I say that women love pockets. I mean, when I find a dress that has pockets, I’m instantly more likely to buy it. Well, I don’t ever buy dresses because I hate wearing them, but that’s beside the point. Most women are more likely to buy things with pockets. So, designers, if you’re looking to make more money, design things with practical pockets, not just those small ones or the fake ones that don’t actually hold anything. Then, you’ll beat out your competitors, and when they wonder why, you can tell them you have a secret weapon: gender equality.