Three words that instantly make an item of clothing more appealing to women: “It has pockets!”
So rare are functional pockets in our clobber, that we exclaim about their existence to anyone who’ll listen when we nab a precious find. But now, there’s a new website hoping to change the game.
Pockets For Women curates clothing items that have pockets from a range of high street and online retailers. The concept was the brainchild of Mandy Fletcher, a 41-year-old web developer based in Sheffield, who was sick and tired with her pocketless clothing.
“I’ve always loved dresses with pockets, but saw them as a bit of a bonus rather than expected,” she tells HuffPost UK. “When I took my eight-year-old son swimming one day, I noticed that he had his hands in his pockets, and that for me was the final straw. What does he needs pockets for?
“At that point, I couldn’t unsee it everywhere. My husband had pockets in his pjs, which I hadn’t even realised was a thing. I really can’t sew, so making a clothing line was out. I can, however, make websites, so that’s what I did.”
Fletcher’s website includes links to retailers such as All Saints, Phase Eight, The White Stuff and Whistles. She makes a small commission from each item purchased through it, making her pocket-finding prowess profitable.
But finding the items isn’t always easy, she says.
“I will usually do a visual check on the product image for ‘hands in pockets’ as there are still a lot of products where there are no mention of pockets in the description, but I can clearly see them in the photo,” she explains.
But why are so many brands still creating women’s clothing without pockets in the first place?
“I really don’t know,” she says. “I look at a lot of dresses nowadays, and I’ll see two that look very similar in shape, but one has pockets and one doesn’t. I suppose material-saving? Not spoiling ‘the line’? Maybe just because we’re not used to having them?
“I don’t think you could take pockets off men’s clothes without there being a massive uproar, as they’re so used to them.”
Well, thanks to her efforts we can start getting used to pockets, too. Pockets for all!