incidentally

[metaphortunate]

Posted without comment:

By the time Diana Vreeland joined Harper's Bazaar in 1937 as a junior editor, handbags had become an integral and important part of the fashion business, as she would quickly learn. Shortly after she arrived at the august glossy, Vreeland had what she described in her memoir, D.V., as a "brainwave!"

"We're going to eliminate all handbags," she told a colleague.

"You're going to what?" he responded.

"Eliminate all handbags," she repeated. "Now look. What have I got here? I've got cigarettes, I've got my lipstick, I've got my comb, I've got my powder, I've got my rouge, I've got my money. But what do I want with a bloody old handbag that one leaves in taxis and so on? It should all go into pockets. Real pockets, like a man has, for goodness sake."

Then Vreeland explained how she wanted to devote an entire issue of the venerable fashion magazine to "showing what you can do with pockets and how the silhouette is improved and so on."

Her colleague ran from her office - "the way you run for the police!" she recalled - straight to Harper's Bazaar editor Carmel Snow.

"Diana's going crazy!" he cried. "Get hold of her."

Snow went to see Vreeland.

"Listen, Diana," Snow told Vreeland, "I think you've lost your mind. Do you realize that our income from handbag advertising is God knows how many millions a year?!"

- Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster, by Dana Thomas

"Thanks. It has pockets!" - every girl ever responding to a compliment on a skirt/dress that has pockets

- Tumblr/Twitter, attribution unknown

Comments

[laurashapiro]

My favorite thing about the cold months is that I can wear a jacket with big pockets to hold my crap and never have to bring a bag.

Unfortunately I still need to schlep my gym clothes in something, though.

[metaphortunate]

Yessss.

OTOH, some evil people make even jackets/coats without pockets. Why. WHY.

Back when my hips were small enough that I could wear men's coats reasonably, I could even have inside pockets. (grumble)

[ambyr]

I have in my possession a pair of cargo pants from a rather well-known women's clothing brand. They're made from nice, thick canvas--the sort you can wear without fear while tromping through thorn bushes. They have lovely large cargo pockets on the mid thighs, big enough to hold a water bottle or a heavy flashlight or a small book.

. . . .and after adding those, the designers apparently suddenly remembered they were making clothes for women and removed all other pockets from the design. No hip pockets. No side pockets. Why would women need those?

Cargo pants. Missing the point.

But I bought them anyway, because they were $5 at the thrift store, and damnit, I needed thick pants.

[metaphortunate]

WHY AAARGH WHY

[ironed_orchid]

Curse those handbag sales.

My new year's resolution a couple of years ago was to never buy trousers without pockets. I don't regret it, although I've had a few shop assistants realise they cannot sell me anything.

[metaphortunate]

I used to never buy any trousers without a full complement of at least 4 pockets. Now that I pretty much have to carry a bag (even men have trouble carrying an emergency diaper, wipes, and washcloth in pockets) I will buy trousers with only enough pockets to carry, say, keys and a tampon. It has opened up my options. But they will never be my favorite trousers.

[thistleingrey]

Yes! Even my small daughter, who was excited when my mother gave her a pair of leggings (I refuse to buy them), was a bit disappointed when she realized they lack pockets. Most of the elastic-waist knit pants I've been buying her have pockets. *whistles*

(I work in an environment where people aged 17-24 seem to think that spandex solves everything and that leggings or even tights are equivalent to trousers and jeans. Even during interviews.)

[metaphortunate]

I have found some tunics with pockets that I wear with leggings! They gave me great comfort towards the end of my pregnancy.

[thistleingrey]

Seems like a great way to split the difference.

[wordweaverlynn]

I love pocketses. And my backpack and fanny pack. And even toting things in my bra. And pokershaman's solution, which is a leather vest with many pockets. Purses are a freaking pain in the back and one of the reasons so many middle-aged women have a frozen shoulder.

[metaphortunate]

I dislike toting things in the bra! Alas, sometimes you gotta. But boob sweat. :(

[oyceter]

THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH! *shakes fist at fashion industry*

[metaphortunate]

I KNOW
MY AAAAAANGER