THE JOURNAL
The Stylish Gent’s Guide To Jackets With Pockets – And Where To Store Essentials
Photograph by Mr Marc Richardson
As many women will tell you, the one thing they want more of in their clothes is pockets. Their grievances are twofold: first, they don’t have enough of them, and second, the ones that they do have are too small. Try fitting a standard-sized phone into the side pocket on a pair of women’s jeans and you’ll see what we mean. Meanwhile, over here on planet menswear, we’re drowning in pockets.
Zip pockets. Patch pockets. Flap pockets. Coin pockets. Ticket pockets. Hidden pockets. Pockets inside other pockets. Frankly, we’ve got so many pockets that we’re running out of things to put in them. But pockets, let’s not forget, are more than mere receptacles for our belongings. They’re one of the defining features of men’s style, speaking to the functionality we so desire in our clothes – and in many cases telling a story about their origins, too.
More often than not, the pockets we keep our wallets and keys in today are echoes of the military influence that is still so pervasive in menswear. Classic tropes of the male wardrobe, such as the trench coat and bomber jacket, were, as the names suggest, originally designed to meet the requirements of combat; often, that meant stitching as many pockets onto them as physically possible. Think of the roomy bellows pockets on cargo pants, big enough to fit a handful of shotgun shells, or the flap pockets on field jackets for stashing compasses and ordnance survey maps of the battlefield.
While the original purposes of these pockets are largely defunct, that’s not to suggest that they’re now merely decorative. Pockets remain handy things to have; we certainly can’t imagine a world without them. But their function is no longer a matter of life or death, and that’s liberated designers to start having a little fun with them. This is something you can do, too.
Carry on reading for seven inventive ways to make pockets a feature of your outfit. And remember, you can’t have enough of them.
01.
Denim: the original workwear
Photograph by Mr Christian Vierig/Getty Images
Originally designed for miners, oilmen and railroad workers in the Old West, the denim jacket has functionality at its heart. And while you won’t see men heading into mines dressed like this anymore – certainly not without a hard hat and a hi-vis vest, anyway – there’s still a rugged, hard-wearing quality to the garment today. Here, a simple miner’s jacket is abstracted by the addition of exaggerated chest pockets, a contemporary detail that keeps this double-denim look from feeling like cowboy dress-up.
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02.
The utilitarian tactical vest
Photograph by Mr Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images
What you’re seeing here is an adventurous take on the utilitarian look, a vision of contemporary streetwear in which functional garments such as utility vests typically worn by hunters or fishermen are retooled for urban life. Notable proponents include Heron Preston, 1017 ALYX 9SM and A-COLD-WALL* – but the leader of the movement is Mr Errolson Hugh of Acronym and Stone Island Shadow Project. In this example, a tactical vest complete with shotgun shell loops is layered over a blazer for a bold hybrid look that’s aesthetically somewhere between a Met Gala attendee and a Swat team leader.
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03.
The flight jacket goes stratospheric
Photograph by Mr Edward Berthelot/Getty Images
These big twin flap pockets are a feature borrowed from the classic Type A-2 bomber jacket, a standard-issue model in the US Air Force throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. In a supple bottle-green leather and without the A-2’s signature ribbed cuffs and hem, it goes without saying that this is a rather different and more modern garment than the one that inspired it. The gentleman in this picture has styled it accordingly, pairing it with a chunky knitted hoodie and accessorising with a few standout pieces of jewellery.
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04.
Gone fishing
Photograph by Mr Szymon Brzoska/Imaxtree.com
In another example of utilitarian fashion sharing a stage with traditional menswear – can you see a theme emerging yet? – this gentleman has thrown a lightweight fisherman’s gilet over the top of a single-breasted overcoat. The gilet undeniably adds visual interest to the look, its colours coordinating nicely with his green quilted trousers, but it also serves a practical purpose by keeping the delicate pockets of his coat intact. Nobody wants bait and tackle ruining their lining, now, do they?
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05.
The city-ready hiking jacket
Photograph by Frenchystyle/BLAUBLUT-EDITION
The outerwear trend – or Gore-Tex in the city, as we like to call it – shows no sign of abating, and why should it? After all, the practicality of outdoor gear isn’t some fad but a genuinely useful addition to our everyday lives. Adapting it for an urban environment is easy, too: just do as this gentleman does and throw a technical shell jacket over an everyday outfit of shirt, T-shirt and chinos. Fastening the collar and leaving the zip undone isn’t a requirement, merely a stylistic flourish that emphasises the look’s hybrid nature.
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06.
Go full geek
Photograph by Ms Claire Guillon
There’s an awful lot of zig-zaggy coordination going on here, that’s for sure. If we didn’t know better, we’d say that this pair have either just left, or are on their way to, the recent Missoni runway show in Milan this September. While the signature Missoni knitted polo shirt is worthy of attention, what we’re really interested in here is the adaptation of the trench coat and cargo pants with knitted, chevron-patterned pockets. Are they in keeping with the garments’ military lineage? Absolutely not: you wouldn’t want to rely on a knitted pocket in the heat of battle. Are they a fun twist on a menswear classic? Absolutely.
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07.
The hard-to-miss field jacket
Photograph by Mr Marc Richardson
Giving us an impression of what folk hero Paul Bunyan might have worn if his career as a lumberjack had taken place during the era of health and safety regulations, this heavy-duty plaid field jacket is marked out straight away by the high-vis stripe that cuts across the upper chest. Indeed, it’s such a prominent detail that you’d be forgiven for missing the four flap pockets, a signature feature on a field jacket, sitting directly underneath.