Pockets around the web: Essay on why girls need pockets

The Washington Post has a nice essay on the importance of pockets for girls' freedom and independence.  Thanks, anonymous reader, for sharing!

Pocket reviews: eShakti pants pockets

eShakti pants pockets are great.  I've entered some measurements in the Spreadsheet of Pockets (lines 9-11).  eShakti does custom sizes in addition to their standard sizes.  I always go for a custom size.  It took a few returns to get jeans that fit, but once I got the measurements right it was great.  They have great customer service in terms of accepting returns.  (The dresses always turn out perfect at this point, but I know pants are harder to fit.)  The looser pants seem easier, on par with the dresses, in terms of getting a good fit almost immediately in a custom size.

The big wide-legged pants have magnificent, capacious pockets that fit my phone and dog treats (easily accessible without struggling) in one pocket and wallet and keys in the other.  I love these pockets.  (Also, the pants are cool and light in the summer.)

On their jeans (when they make them - eShakti rotates through many styles frequently), they often even have an option to customize the pocket size: standard, larger, or smaller.  I chose the deeper pockets when the option was available.  I have some classic straight-leg jeans that have the typical five-pocket style of jeans and another wide-legged pair that has front patch pockets and lacks the little coin pocket in the front (which I don't use anyways).  They've been selling some jeans lately but it comes and goes.

How to filter and sort the Spreadsheet of Pockets

Now that the Spreadsheet of Pockets has a few more entries, you may want to sort it or filter it instead of just scrolling through.   The way to do this is to click on the funnel near the upper left-hand corner (it's just right of the print icon).  This creates a temporary "filter view" that lets you sort and filter without affecting the viewing of other users.

Pocket reviews: new pants entries in the Spreadsheet of Pockets from my own closet with some commentary

I'm adding all of my newer pocketed purchases from the last year to the Spreadsheet of Pockets.  I'm going to write up a bit of commentary on the latest entries (rows 2-7).

My favorite in these rows is the striped slim fit jeans I got from Duluth Trading Company.  These were hearty pockets that I don't even want to modify.  I bought a size that just barely fit (they were on clearance and the last size left that was close), but next time I need pants I will be looking at theirs.

Many Eddie Bauer pants happily have curvy fit versions that actually fit me without tailoring or gaping around the waist.  This is a minor miracle.  Yet, they still have merely decent pockets that leave me plotting to cut the bottoms off to add a deeper pocket bag.  (But I'm lazy, so it hasn't happened yet.)  Yeah, they're sort of slacks, but one pair was TRAVEL pants.  It's baffling to me that an ostensibly outdoorsy company can't make their travel pants have fully satisfying pockets.  They just need a few more inches in the pocket bag to be as good as the Duluth Trading Co. jeans.  Oh well!

Old Navy Pixie Pants I probably wouldn't have tried but I needed yellow slim pants for a Halloween costume.  They also happened to have a linen version on sale so I bought that too as I have found every linen thing I've bought to be so nice and cool for biking and gardening and existing outside.  The pockets are awful and all need modification.  (The linen was great, though, and will be a favorite once I fix the pockets.)  The end.

Pockets around the web: "Women's Pockets are Inferior": an essay with DATA

Last year several of my friends and family sent me this amazing data-filled article giving very telling visuals of the inadequacies of women's pockets.  They sampled 20 popular US blue jean brands with a sample size of 80.  It is just as relevant today as it was last year.

The measurements in the Spreadsheet of Pockets

I have created a diagram to illustrate what I have in mind for measurements in the Spreadsheet of Pockets.  These illustrations assume you are looking at the front part of the pants (or skirt or dress).  I have put five common pocket shapes plus an "other" so you can see how you would estimate for a pocket with a different shape.  If it's a super wild pocket shaped like a circle or star or something, the idea is to go for the functional space.  Please submit your own measurements too and let me know via email or in the comments if you have questions!

I'm back! Now with more pocket data! (AKA the Spreadsheet of Pockets)

It has been just over a year since my last post.  However, I am back, and with new ideas!  I have decided that it is too much work, in between the gardening and dog walking and knitting and working and everything, to do detailed entries for all pockets.  So, instead I present the Spreadsheet of Pockets!


I will gradually go through my previously posted pocket measurements and add them.  The glory, however, of this approach, is that you too can enter your pocket measurements!  It's not on me to buy all the pants/skirts/dresses in the world to measure and document their pockets.  Crowd-sourced pockets, as it were.

Here is the survey form that allows you to enter your data.  I decided data entry for all pockets on a given item would likely be a barrier to use.  Certainly for me it was and I started this blog.  I mean, the whole idea here is that our clothing should stop interfering with our full enjoyment of life.  Anyhow, I ask how many pockets exist overall on the clothing, and then take measurements only for the front two pockets, left and right, as those are pretty standard.

Now that the great backlog of new pockets is going to be easier for me to enter, I will resume normal posting of pockets around the web on a weekly-ish basis.  Sometime in the next week or two I will also post a diagram of what the measurements mean, in case they are unclear from my methods in previous posts.

Yay pockets!  Meanwhile, please let more know if you have questions or comments about the spreadsheet.