If you have followed my poster skirt story, you might know that my clothes MUST have pockets. Even in 2019, this is somewhat challenging. This causes various problems, including wearing a microphone when speaking.
There are many articles showing how bad the situation is and how we got here. However, I am determined to bring back pockets to women’s clothes. Here are the strategies I use to still find skirts and dresses with pockets!
Tip 1: Stop buying clothes without pockets
We need to stand together to send a message to clothes manufacturers that we need pockets. It doesn’t matter how cute it is, don’t buy it!
Tip 2: Add pockets to existing clothes
If you did at one point in time buy a skirt or a dress without pockets, consider adding some! I had a pocket added to my dirndl, and it even has a zipper, so I can keep my valuables there safely.

Tip 3. Search your favorite shop with text queries
Although the websites where I shop (mostly Zalando) allow me to filter very specific criteria, sadly there is no filter for pockets. However, it is possible to do a text search for “steekzakken” (“pockets where you stick things into” in Dutch) to get all products that have this word somewhere. An advantage of this particular term (rather than “zakken” which just means pockets) is that “steekzakken” cannot be used to describe fake pockets that clothes sometimes have.
Now you get an overview of all clothes with pockets. Browse to dresses or skirts and voila, you have your subset of clothes you can buy! Usually these will all also have a picture (but perhaps not the first picture you see) where the model is using the pockets. This is how I buy most of my skirts and dresses with pockets.
Tip 4: Use specialized websites
Some brands have caught on to the fact that not having pockets on clothes is stupid. Here are a few – although I haven’t tried any of them yet!
Tip 5: Build an app for it
Building a machine learning algorithm that recognizes “hand in pocket” in pictures should not be too difficult. Add an app on top that searches your favorite websites and gives you all the suggestions you can shop for. Add in ads or sponsorships from companies that do actually put pockets on their clothes, and you have an income stream. I would do it, but I already have too many projects – would love to hear of such initiatives though!
Pockets, here we come!