Five Pockets
The namesake of my website and the typical description for a classic pair of jeans, ‘Five pockets’ but why?
Have you ever looked and counted the number of pockets on your favourite pair of jeans? Usually you will be able to count five pockets- two front pockets, two back pockets and one small coin pocket. So why five?
The original styling of denim pants originate from the early men’s workwear of the 1870s. To this day, the styling of these original pants, known as waist overalls, is still recognisable as the denim pants worn today. Designed for durability and practicality, one of the main differences of the early design is that they only had four pockets. This is evidenced from one of the oldest pair of jeans discovered, recently sold for a whopping $100,000 at auction at the Durango Vintage Festivus in New Mexico. Although partly missing it’s leg with lots of signs of repair work, these pants are still unbelievably well preserved and include all the original styling details - back waist cinch, copper rivets and four pockets.
Another example of an early workwear pant from the late 1800s.
The coin pocket, also known as a ticket pocket, may be the most surprising pocket to find. Barely functional due to it’s small size, it’s a wonder why it’s there to begin with. Often mistaken at the ‘fifth’ pocket to be added, this was actually there from the start. Although more recently there has been discussion about it’s use, it is thought that its original purpose was for holding matches or a pocket watch. This detail has continued within the design of jeans for over 150 years, only noting some differences in styling based on brands and aesthetics.
The actual fifth pocket to be added was an additional back pocket on the wearer’s left. This back pocket was added around the early 1900’s, creating a more symmetrical look to the back styling. For many brands, started by Levis, an arcuate was stitched onto the back pockets as a signature to identify brands.
Looking at the history of denim and it’s origins in workwear, it’s clear why denim design is still influenced by it’s very original styling.
