By Lakshana N Palat

Copyright gulfnews

If you ever do compliment my dress and it has pockets, I will definitely point out the pockets. I will emphatically say too, “Look! It has pockets! I can keep my phone in it.” Be prepared for an excited sermon that you never asked for.No regrets. I think that I do speak for most of us girls, who are just overjoyed at choosing outfits that have pockets, because, it’s something of a rarity. It is bothersome, no doubt, to walk around, clutching your phone and wallet (there are circumstances where you have to leave your bag behind folks, don’t start).As social media trends go, some of them are so random they make you blink twice — we’re talking about the latest TikTok craze: women showing off their hands stuffed with as many objects as possible, a spectacle that seems as absurd as it is oddly mesmerizing. But this isn’t just a quirky viral stunt — it’s the new battleground for a fashion grievance that refuses to die: Why women’s clothes don’t come with decent pockets.However, beneath all the playful celebration, though, lurks a serious frustration: The pocket, that humble hero of utility, has long been a glaring symbol of fashion’s gender divide..Dubai Fashion Week 2025: Six days, over 30 shows, infinite glam – everything you need to know.But, why though? As a preamble, let’s say that pocket inequality is basically the fashion world’s longest-running joke, and for women, it’s about as funny as stubbed toes. But lately, the struggle has been thrust back into the spotlight with all the subtlety of a trending hashtag: #WeWantPockets. As smartphones ballooned in size, women finally realised the tragic truth: our pockets are practically decorative. A 2020 YouGov survey in the UK found that four in ten women had put an item of clothing back on the rack after discovering it came pocket-free, according to an article in the BBC.And when pockets do appear? They’re usually short, narrow, and about as practical as a chocolate teabag. Or, at their cruelest, they’re a straight-up illusionSo, why are we losing our minds over a square of fabric? Let’s rewind and expose history’s most ridiculous fashion heist..A brief history of pocket injusticeAs Hannah Carlson writes in Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close, women as far back as the 1400s carried their belongings in purses tied to belts, letting them dangle around mid-thigh, over or under their gowns. This wasn’t just practical; it was fashionable. Medieval poets like Chaucer even praised the look. Carlson notes that the way you wore your purse signaled whether your style was masculine or feminine, but the purse itself was gender-neutral.Pockets existed back then, but they weren’t sewn into clothing. They were separate, humble little accessories. In fact, the very word pocket comes from the French poque (bag), which became poke in Anglo-Norman, and when followed by “-ette,” meant “small bag.” These early pockets had plenty of uses — Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales even mentions that they could be lined with wax and used to store an alchemist’s supplies.But things started to change for men. Sailors needed to carry citizenship papers, and the nobility had pockets sewn into their suits by the 1600s. Carlson writes that men’s suits began to resemble little cupboards — storage space everywhere. Women, meanwhile, were stuck with “tie-on” pockets — detachable and easy targets for ridicule. These pockets were mocked as secret-keepers, a kind of suspicious little vault that women were apparently guarding too closely. And when women pushed for proper, integrated pockets, there was outrage. Horse-riding women, in particular, were accused of stepping too far into ‘masculine’ territory. In 1712, The Gentleman’s Magazine even fretted that female delicacy was being replaced with “masculine courage.” Sigh, have mercy on women who had somewhere to put their stuff.The truth is: When women couldn’t take their valuables into public spaces, it left them more vulnerable — and far more dependent on men or hired help. The very things that belonged in pockets — money, keys, letters — were symbolic of power, independence, and privacy, all things society insisted women shouldn’t worry about. So, women began carrying tiny bags instead. But that came with its own problem: hands were suddenly occupied, making everyday life less free and far more cumbersome..Entering the man’s domainNevertheless, our foremothers weren’t about to take pocketlessness lying down. Enter the Rational Dress Society in 1891 — basically the OG ‘free the pocket’ movement. These ladies ditched corsets, slipped into loose trousers, and finally had clothes they could breathe (and bike!) in. By the turn of the century, men were strutting around with suits that boasted up to 15 pockets, while women were still stuck juggling bags like it was their full-time job.Charlotte P. Gilman in 1905 wrote that men’s clothing had one undeniable advantage: pockets. Women, meanwhile, had to settle for bags, sewn in, tied on, or clutched in hand, which, let’s be real, is not the same thing.Then came 1910, and suffragette suits with six or more pockets became the rage, because if you’re marching for the vote, you at least need somewhere to stash your pamphlets. During the World Wars, practicality finally had its moment: women wore trousers with roomy pockets, and fashion actually worked for them… briefly..And then, the 1947 Christian Dior “New Look” arrived and ruined everything. Pockets shrank or disappeared entirely in the name of “femininity.” In other words, women got pretty little dresses but had to carry purses for the rest of eternity.Fast-forward to today and not much has changed. A 2018 study found that women’s jeans pockets are, on average, 48% shorter and 6.5% narrower than men’s. Only 10% of women’s jeans could even fit an entire hand. Meanwhile, men? A full 100% of their pockets passed the “whole hand” test. No wonder we scream with joy every time we find a dress that can hold a phone.So, final word? Women do want real pockets. Big, functional, phone-swallowing, snack-holding, feminism-friendly pockets. Until then, people will keep screaming “It has pockets!” like a battle cry..Back-to-campus beauty: 7 best budget makeup picks for UAE students in 2025 .How Dubai’s oldest beauty queen Tasneem Raza rewrote the rules at Miss Universe India.7 best sunscreens to keep you protected and fresh in office, UAE, 2025.K-Celeb beauty secrets revealed: Song Hye-kyo’s milk-honey masks to BTS V toning routine