I never gave mine pocket money. I would buy candy, cookies, ice cream, etc for home consumption and bought everything they needed by way of clothing and footwear. If they wanted their ears pierced I brought them to Claires, and if we were out shopping I would get them an item they liked if we both thought it would be useful or nice to have. I bought all household toiletries like sanpro, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soaps, etc., and they could buy whatever they wanted for themselves in this line too.
You can have this sort of relationship where the parent buys stuff in consultation with the children without being controlling and without spending every penny you have on your children's whims.
From about age 12 on, heavily encouraged by me, they were able to get mother's helper, odd job and babysitting jobs and at 16, weekend office receptionist and summer office gofer jobs or warehouse job in the case of DS. They were able to spend their money on anything they wanted, though I tried to persuade them not to buy expensive jeans or footwear at age 12 as they grew out of everything so quickly. Some learned that lesson the hard way.
By about 15/16 they were buying most of their own clothes and paying about 50% of footwear costs. I would contribute a max of $20-30 toward any item they really wanted if I considered it necessary - so a winter coat/jacket or backpack for school or boots if they wanted a specific item that was more than about $30. They were self supporting from the time they left for university. They all worked part time and during summers (and so far, one during the winter breaks too) while studying. I never had to send money to anyone during their university years. They took care of flights or train tickets home themselves.
My thought is that as children grow up they can get themselves a job if they are frustrated or feel limited to what their parents give them.
So far, they have all thanked me for my approach. DD2 in particular knew fellow students in university who relied heavily on the bank of mum and dad and did not know how to budget, became very invested in items that caught their eye when shopping and overspent (my DDs learned from an early age to trawl the sale and final clearance racks). DD1 had paid off one of her university loans before she graduated. She recently bought herself a flat, a few years out of university.