Am I the only one who does NOT want pockets on dresses?

[FeelingSad2024]

I've seen a few threads on here about dresses with pockets, people bemoaning the lack of pockets on dresses, praising brands who do put pockets on dresses... but I hate it!

If I am wearing a lovely floaty summer dress, what exactly am I going to be putting in my pockets? At a push I might put my car keys in a pocket but anything else, like my mobile or purse, is too heavy/bulky- invariably it pulls the side of the dress down and ruins the line/look of the lovely floatiness. On the flip side, sometimes the pockets are too big (too much fabric) so you end up with weird lumps/bumps in the fabric at the hips where the pockets lie, even with nothing in them.

I've started to buy a few autumn/winter dresses and even if thicker fabrics I am finding the same problem.

So to pockets on dresses I say, no thank you! Surely I can't be the only one?

Yanbu at all, in fact I started a thread a year or more ago saying just this! It's not even enough not to put things in unwanted pockets; the extra fabric alone tends to add bulk, usually in the wrong place, ie hips or breasts (mine are large enough already).

Now, if a clever designer rethought pockets from a truly female perspective and considered where they might work better for our non-male figures. Lower down the skirt, on the sleeve, lower back -- depending on the fabric: that would be feminist. Why should women's pockets sit where men's pockets sit? I do, for instance, want pockets in blazers but not over my breasts! Maybe just below, long narrow inside pockets for a phone, glasses?

And another reason I prefer a handbag: who wants to keep moving things from outfit to outfit every day? Much easier to keep all the essentials in my (small) bag and just pick it up every day. (One of my other hates is changing handbags too often...)

I've just spent 20 mins getting rid of huge pockets in a tunic, much better now!

Blazers typically have pockets in the front way below breasts. If you see one with weirdly big high up pockets then just don't buy it. Most don't.
I can't see how anyone would want pockets on the lower back of a dress.
Pocket placement isn't based on men for goodness sake. It's based on where most humans have easy access with their hands. Not everything is about the patriarchy 🙄

@llamalines

angstypant
Totally agree. I always have enough things with me that I need a bag. Bare minimum:

Phone
Power bank
Tissues
Sunglasses + case
Lip balm
Keys

Often I'll also have reading glasses, small pouch with nail file, lipstick and powder. Maybe a pen...

But even the bare minimum requires a bag.

And as you say OP, it pulls the fabric down. Unless maybe the dress is made of canvas. I don't wear canvas dresses 😂

Plenty of space for all that if only we had decent pockets like men's clothes.

Seriously? I don't know any men who carry all that in their pockets. Most people don't carry that much stuff shoved into pockets.

Hate pockets on dresses and skirts, I put my keys and tissue in my bag if I have one and if I'm just taking my keys and phone they generally stay in my hands. The same place I keep them when I'm wearing jeans or shorts.

Depends on the time of year, but if I'm wearing layers, perhaps a coat, with decent pockets, I'd certainly put this lot in my pockets over a bag.

Phone
Power bank
Tissues
Sunglasses + case
Lip balm
Keys

And most men would too, I'd wager a guess. That's not a huge amount of stuff.

Perhaps you know some very well groomed men, I dunno, but the ones I know do generally use pockets over bags.

I prefer pockets in dresses and skirts. Tbh the only thing I use the dress pockets for is usually my hands, I just never feel comfortable without a pocket. However, for something floaty pockets would be silly, and yes they would ruin the line of the dress. My dresses are all linen however so can take pockets. The only thing actually in the pocket would be a hanky and maybe a lip gloss, anything else goes in my bag or backpack, which is always with me.

My exDH was always moaning how unfair it was that women could have handbags!!

Hate pockets. Never use them (I don't want to have to remember to empty pockets or move things around from place to place - I keep stuff in my bag so it's always in one place). Bought a dress recently whose line is ruined by the stupid pockets - I am going to have to remove them and sew the gap shut.

Where I live, men and women usually carry bags when they leave the house, so I don't see the need for pockets.

It's not about function if we'd never use the function anyway!

I mean, I am fine with jeans having pockets (as opposed to pockets in a lightweight dress, where they look stupid). But I still don't use jeans pockets. I want my stuff in a bag and find it more practical.

Putting things through the washing machine by accident (resulting in damaged items or bits of tissue fluff all over the washing), sitting on things and breaking them, melting edible items, having things pickpocketed and forgetting where things are/having to shift them about from garment to garment, and having to repair pockets when they develop holes (or lose things if the holes are not repaired) is not functional for me.

Men have historically not been inconvenienced by the above because historically, it was their wives/mothers/servants who were responsible for emptying pockets, finding pocketed items and shuffling them about from one garment to another or putting them back on the man's bedside table or desk, repairing torn pockets etc. My husband keeps his stuff in a bag for the most part, probably in part because he knows he would have to be responsible for digging things out of clothes before they go in the laundry - if I'm the one who puts on the next load of washing, I'm probably not going to hunt about looking for pocketed whatits in his jeans and trousers because I have other things to be thinking about.

My first boyfriend was older than me and had this thing about Men Don't Carry Bags. His pockets were always torn (resulting in stuff getting lost) and full of loose change and tissues that ended up going through the laundry and making a mess. Whenever we went out, I was the one who ended up carrying stuff about like a bloody packhorse because I was the only one with a bag. Tiresome man.

I think it's very regiona/local and depends on transit mode

In places where most people (men and women) are walking/biking/using public transport, it's usual to carry bags regardless of sex. You may need a water bottle as you are moving about and may get thirsty, maybe something to read on the train, some people like to take a foldup shopping bag in case they pick up shopping on the way and need to cart it back, perhaps a jumper or hat, maybe a snack item, sometimes sunscreen and insect repellent etc.

In places where everyone drives everywhere, you CAN do the above anyway, but a lot of people esp men are in the habit of throwing everything into the car and just keeping a few small items like a phone in their pockets. So being bag-less is an option and perhaps more usual for men in those areas.

I don’t particularly need a pocket on a dress. I always have a bag with me. I don’t mind so much if it’s more of a casual dress, on a smarter dress I imagine it would dress it ‘down’. If I wore a casual dress with pockets I imagine I would only ever put something really light in it like a lipstick/lip balm, loose change, etc.. never anything that would add any bulk. So overall it’s a no from me really.

Same here

I don't like carrying a handbag. I hate wearing clothes without pockets. Phone in one pocket, purse in the other, or just a debit card if the pockets are too small for a purse.

I love pockets. Except for breast pockets.
More pockets please, I hate having to carry a bag.

I agree. I get hayfever these days and allergic rhinitis, so I like to keep a tissue on me.

Casual summer dresses, yes. Anything else, no.

Exactly this. Of course I don't carry anything in dress pockets; they're strictly for posing

Agree with you. Pockets always make the dress hang weird.

I prefer dresses and skirts with pockets. I carry my phone, work badge (in summer and not wearing a coat), AirPods. Plus I like having my hands in my pockets

Alll the pockets. Need place for phone and wallet. Don’t want to haul around a purse in the summer!

yes some materials won’t work. But I’m still picking the practicality over the line of flow.

I like pockets!

though they crumple when washed. Sometimes the dress doesn’t need ironing, but the pockets do. If you iron them they lie nice and flat without being bulky. You can put a tissue a phone and a car key in them! Or between left and right!

I don’t own a dress, but if I did, I’d want pockets. Where else would I carry my car keys, poop bags and the spare tennis balls for the dogs?

You would need some pretty massive pockets to keep all those in, surely?

Those items would fit comfortably in many men's pockets.