Many women are familiar with it–the struggle of having too much to carry, and no way to carry it. The problem? The conspicuous lack of pockets in most women’s clothing. 

Why is it that men get lots of deep, quality pocket options and ways to carry simple things like phones, wallets, and keys, and women are stuck without any, or–just as bad–fake pockets? 

To be fair, there are a few valid reasons behind the absence of pockets on women’s clothing. 

“A lot of it has to do with the shape of the garment or the fabric that’s being used for the garment,” fashion and design teacher Alison Plankers said. “If you have [pockets] on the side of a dress, that’s going to widen your lines. Women often don’t want that to be accentuated. Or, the fabric could be too delicate to where, if you put something in it, it totally ruins the integrity of the design.”

This makes sense. What doesn’t make sense, however, are the fake pockets in many women’s shorts and pants, designed to appear real. Why not just make them real pockets?

According to CNN, a first-grade girl wrote to Old Navy about pockets in girl’s jeans, and her dissatisfaction with the fake pockets that are currently on the pants.

Old Navy responded to this letter, saying, “‘Thank you so much for taking the time to write us about pockets on girl’s jeans. The Old Navy kids product team appreciate your information. It’s great feedback for us as we develop new product.’”

Clearly, women and girls everywhere are familiar with the exasperation felt without pockets. 

There is hope, however. Many women’s clothing designers have started to incorporate pockets into their garments. 

“I think one of the places that we would probably notice pockets being added is in athletic wear and leisure,” Plankers said. “A lot of women’s workout tights now have pockets on the side, to things like the athletic skirts with pockets underneath.”

Little by little, pockets are appearing in women’s clothing at last. It’s about time. Perhaps one day, when someone compliments their outfit, women will always get to excitedly say, “Thanks! It has pockets!”