Inside information

[Melcombe]

One of the common playthings for anyone commissioning a bespoke suit is the opportunity to be fussy about inside pockets.

Being right handed, I have always preferred an inside chest pocket on the left. I remember at school, that inside pocket was the inner sanctum in which all kinds of fun (usually illicit sweets, later cigs) were kept safe.

Lately however I find I just dont use them for anything. I keep a pen in my briefcase : although I rarely write these days when everything requires a keyboard. I prefer a hip pocket billfold rather than a large wallet. Even business cards seem a rarity now all your contact details are Googleable (is that a word yet?)

In the summer I acquired a patch pocket blazer / boating jacket in a light construction - no inside pocket. So pleased have I been with it, my new project (funereal charcoal SB 2 piece in Dugdales' Royal Classic dark grey pick-and-pick) does without.

Some tailors appear to make a thing of fancy pockets. The danger is that if you have them, you might fill them with all manner of lumpy cargo which does nothing for the fit of your coat, IMHO.

Inside pockets or maybe not. How do you like yours?

Regards

David

[raykalendek]

Being one who despises having anything in his trouser pockets (especially his hands), and finds unattractive the jacket-deforming effects of bulky items in exterior coat pockets, inside jacket pockets for slim wallets, business card cases, glasses, etc. seem essential.

I'm rather consistent and minimalist in what I tend to carry on my person and routinely communicate this information to my tailors, who have managed to soften any regrettable effects on the line of my jackets. Well placed and skillfully executed, inside jacket pockets are for me simply indispensable.

[hectorm]

Well placed and skillfully executed, inside jacket pockets are for me simply indispensable.

I hear you.
On a normal day I carry on me a pair of reading glasses, a billfold, a set of keys, a small wallet for the essential IDs, credit cards, etc., and an iPhone. Sometimes I also need to carry a pair of sunglasses and car keys. And more frequent than not, there´s always the odd object such as a check book, a passport, a pen, an envelope, prescription medicines, chap stick, tissues, etc. All of the above adds up and conspire a bit against my tailor´s work. But I can leave with it, and much prefer to be hands free than carry a briefcase.

[davidhuh]

Dear David,

good arguments. I may be a lazy man and a victim of my habits - despite modern times, I keep my inside pockets unchanged. The most used ones: the iPhone pocket and a special one under the left lapel, providing easy access to a clean handkerchief, without having to reach to my trouser pockets.

Cheers, David

[andy57]

I always have a pair of reading glasses on me and quite often a pair of sunglasses too. Most of the time I have a pen. That's about all I carry in my jacket. Sometimes I'll put my iPhone in there but mostly not. It annoys me when my glasses fall down into a regular inside pocket and lie horizontally across the bottom of the pocket, making them quite difficult to extract. So I had Steed make two pockets out of the usual right-hand inside pocket. Essentially, each is half the width of a standard pocket. I keep my reading glasses in the pocket closest to my arm, where they almost disappear in the drape of the chest. Sunglasses and a pen go in the outer pocket. I'm left handed, so I use the right hand pocket. My iPhone, when I carry it in my jacket, goes into the left inside pocket.

The other similar advantage of bespoke is that I have eliminated all the useless pockets in my trousers. No hip pockets, no little "coin" pocket, no pocket-inside-the-pocket. Just an onseam pocket on either side of my trousers. Perfect!

[DFR]

Interesting, like some I have had several bespoke pockets inside the coat of my suits over the years; pen pockets, iPhone pockets, breast pockets, ticket pockets etc. I even reached eight at one point. Breast pocket either side (left phone, right breast wallet on some occasions), pen pocket (Left) pocket for passport and paper airline tickets (right beneath breast pocket) and two ticket pockets either side. These were all designed for one particular thing and were never all in use simultaneously - that would simply destroy the lines of the coat.

However time moves on and so doe the things we have to carry. I have to confess my preference now is a minimalist approach for most suits/coats. Pens go in briefcases, phones change size and shape so often these days that I prefer using the left outer pocket now. Wallet, toss up between bill-fold style in left back pocket or breast wallet in inside left breast pocket. There again air conditioning in modern office buildings usually means taking coat off .

Conclusion?
(1)
For suits which are never likely to be used for flying on business (most), just a ticket pocket either side for receipts business cards etc. Two back pockets (Wallet left and handkerchief right), two watch pockets or the Asian-style pockets in the waist band. One for house keys, one for modern car 'keys'.

(2)
Suits for when I fly on business or odd coats for flying on holiday, two inside pockets, one designed for a passport and home printed boarding card, the other for the odds and ends one seems to collect at airports and the same trouser specifications. I even have the breast pockets sewn tightly closed when a suit is relegated for home use only to avoid temptation.

(3)
For evening dress, one breast pocket, (for proper breast wallet), just one ticket pocket. Trousers no back pockets and the same waist band pockets.

This is the absolute joy of bespoke, think about what you need for any particular purpose and have your commissions reflect that. After forty years of bespoke, I reckon I have it right now - for me of course: Everyone else able to enjoy fine suits should design what is suitable for their requirements - no need to simply accept what others think will do.

[DFR]

One of the common playthings for anyone commissioning a bespoke suit is the opportunity to be fussy about inside pockets.

Being right handed, I have always preferred an inside chest pocket on the left. I remember at school, that inside pocket was the inner sanctum in which all kinds of fun (usually illicit sweets, later cigs) were kept safe.

Lately however I find I just dont use them for anything. I keep a pen in my briefcase : although I rarely write these days when everything requires a keyboard. I prefer a hip pocket billfold rather than a large wallet. Even business cards seem a rarity now all your contact details are Googleable (is that a word yet?)

In the summer I acquired a patch pocket blazer / boating jacket in a light construction - no inside pocket. So pleased have I been with it, my new project (funereal charcoal SB 2 piece in Dugdales' Royal Classic dark grey pick-and-pick) does without.

Some tailors appear to make a thing of fancy pockets. The danger is that if you have them, you might fill them with all manner of lumpy cargo which does nothing for the fit of your coat, IMHO.

Inside pockets or maybe not. How do you like yours?

Regards

David

David

Interesting, I have taken your ideas very much to heart and earlier in the year reduced the inside pockets in two commissions to an in-breast and in-ticket pocket either side. Like you, I have taken notice of what I actually do use them for - as opposed to what I think I might want to use them for. It is interesting and I am now getting to the point where I now need to no more than one in-breast pocket. Even that is not really needed so I think none for my next couple of commissions at least.

Duncan