[HN Gopher] Pockets: A History of Carrying Capacity
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       Pockets: A History of Carrying Capacity
        
       Author : lxm
       Score  : 21 points
       Date   : 2023-09-09 16:43 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.wsj.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.wsj.com)
        
       | sparrish wrote:
       | I love my cargo pants. I carry so much stuff. I'd have to carry a
       | backpack everywhere if it weren't for my many pockets.
        
       | jareklupinski wrote:
       | my life measurably improved when i moved from "phone left, wallet
       | right, keys little right" to one of those slim phone covers with
       | a slit in the back that fits just a couple cards
       | 
       | with my id and a backup credit card in there, and the rest of my
       | cards in my phone app, i'm down to just "phone left, keys right"
       | 
       | can't wait until i can do everything with just a watch (looking
       | at you, rideshare apps), and live 'la dolce vita' without pockets
        
       | saaaaaam wrote:
       | One of my favourite bits of comedy is from Paul Tonksinon, an
       | English comedian who is originally from Yorkshire. For non-
       | English audiences, Yorkshiremen are considered very bluff and no-
       | nonsense - the antithesis of "fancy". Plain speaking is a virtue
       | and anything that might even have a whiff of showing off or
       | wanting to seem like you are better than others is treated with
       | deep suspicion if not outright hostility.
       | 
       | Anyway, the set up of the joke is Paul Tonkinson worrying about a
       | trip home, and he knows that he's going to have to go to the
       | local pub with his dad and his dad's friends. Now he's a famous
       | London comedian and acclimatised to "London ways" he's worried
       | that he's going to stick out like a sore thumb.
       | 
       | He goes to the pub, everything is going fine. He's relieved.
       | Until one of his dad's friends looks him up and down and says
       | "Alright lad? I hear you're one of those London types now. You
       | must be doing alright for yourself. Your clothes I mean - very
       | fancy. Trousers! _with pockets_ "
       | 
       | It's much funnier when he tells it obviously. I've been trying to
       | find a YouTube clip but can't.
        
       | hahajk wrote:
       | It still doesn't answer the question: if women complain so much
       | about a lack of pockets [0], why don't they buy clothes with
       | pockets? This article by HSW [1] suggests it's a "male dominated
       | fashion industry." That doesn't sound right to me, being a free
       | market. I suspect it's just that women don't actually buy pants
       | with big pockets because they don't like the way they look.
       | 
       | [0] https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/pockets-articles-
       | of-i... [1]
       | https://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/style/fashion/trends-loo...
        
         | dividedbyzero wrote:
         | As far as my girlfriend is concerned: Because as soon as a
         | piece is remotely nice its pockets are decorative jokes. If
         | there were clothes that were both stylish and had decent
         | pockets she'd buy them at once, but there are almost none.
         | There seems to be no good reason for that to be so, extending
         | the joke pockets usually doesn't cause the piece to look bad or
         | lose function (if not stuffed to the brink and excluding those
         | items where that can't realistically work).
        
           | dronodeath wrote:
           | Maybe pockets are one of those things that everyone says
           | they'd like, but really that preference is subordinate to so
           | many other considerations, that it doesn't materially affect
           | the success of the product. Couple that with simply costing a
           | tiny bit more or just being different than the status quo,
           | and it ends up a nonstarter, because why bother with
           | something that won't make the product more successful?
        
         | albertsondev wrote:
         | I usually do. Problem is, to do that at all, I usually have to
         | buy men's clothing. I buy men's jeans by default, because they
         | have pockets and the fit and comfort aren't my biggest concerns
         | for rugged practical wear. If I want to indulge in feminine
         | fashion or, gods forbid, look professional, I quickly find that
         | I'm out of options. Most pants that do have pockets, they're
         | barely large enough for my phone to fit halfway in them (and
         | I'm using a G7, not a phablet or something). Many just don't,
         | or even worse, they're sewn on decoratively without actually
         | being open and able to hold anything. Some skirts and dresses,
         | sure, they don't really make sense, but why in the world would
         | decorative non-functional pockets be a staple of so many pairs
         | of women's pants if we didn't like how they look?
        
       | linusg789 wrote:
       | https://ghostarchive.org/archive/Em9Ek
        
         | archo wrote:
         | and https://archive.is/IHALv
        
       | looping8 wrote:
       | It's funny that pockets were a feminist thing so long ago but
       | they still are. Women's jeans don't always have them and a lot of
       | girls I know have complained about it. Never had this problem as
       | a man.
        
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       (page generated 2023-09-09 23:01 UTC)