Who are we?

Pockets for Women is developed by Mandy Fletcher of Artumi Systems Ltd. I have been working as a web developer in Sheffield for the past 14 years. Over the years, I have worked with a variety of different clients doing anything from single page sites to full business management systems. This is, however, my first passion project, which I am building for myself.

This is me, Mandy Fletcher

Why pockets?

Recently, my friend ordered a matching set of PJs for herself and her husband had pockets, hers didn’t. What does he need pockets for that she doesn’t? When my boys were very small and I was still at home with them, spending the morning wiping bottoms, feeding, cleaning, picking small bits of lego, pockets in PJs would have been very useful, but I didn’t even realise that was a thing. Meanwhile my sons had pockets in their swimming shorts.

Another friend was telling me about her frustrations pushing a loaded pram, with all the baby things, phone, purse, keys and dog poo bags, and how she would have liked more (and bigger!) pockets. Smart work outfits can often be lacking in pockets it’s just little things like if your phone goes off in your bag, can you find it it time? That’s if you even hear it in the first place! Women also still have an increased need for privacy, which a bag doesn’t always give you. Who wants a bouncer at a gig to know what kind of sanitary product you use?

Pockets have always been important to women. From the 16th century there has been evidence of women having pockets. Back then, it would have probably have been a tie-on style pocket, attached to the waistband, usually under the dress and accessible by openings in the skirts and petticoats. At a time when women did not have ownership of property, (including a legal right to access to their own children), having a pocket would been a private space where you could hold your most precious belongings. The tie-on pocket had surprising longevity, still around in the late 19th century, but as fashion changed, and women started to gain more rights and freedoms, they also started to lose the pocket.

Now, I’m not saying I would like to go back there. I quite like the right to vote and own property ( and to be able to pee without having to removing several layers!), but I really think we lost something with the loss of the pocket. Why is it so important? You just need to ask any man to go without his for a week, and he would tell you. We have got used pockets being a bonus rather than expected.

So why are pockets not on women’s clothes by default? As the industrial revolution came in, women were making their own clothes less, and the designers didn’t think to put them in. Thankfully, things seem to be changing and most retailers of women’s clothes usually have some at least some dresses, skirts (and pyjamas!) with pockets. However, finding them can sometimes be the issue. Some women solve the issue by making their own clothes, but as nobody wants to let me near a sewing needle (really – I can barely sew on name labels!), I solved it for myself, by this site , where I find clothes from lots of different retailers, and filter out for only stuff with pockets. I would estimate that I have filtered through over 10,000 items to find the clothes on site today. Most, if not all the links to the retailer sites are affiliate links, which tell the retailer that you have come from this site, and which if you buy something, means that we will earn some commission. This, in turn, I can use to keep the site running.

If you want to get in touch about a feature you would like on the site, or something is not working as you would like, or just to tell me how much you like pockets, please contact us.