I need pants pockets my hands or keys fit in.

October 9, 2014 4:55 PM

I need help finding pants with pockets large enough to fit my hands (when I'm standing around awkwardly) or a set of keys without them falling out when I'm walking from building to building. Caveat: women's pants that are somewhat professional with straight or tapered legs .

I've been trying to step my game up at work and get away from wearing jeans all the time (though I could if I really wanted to). This summer I found the Andie chino from J. Crew to be a good fit, but the pockets are typically small. It was a problem I dealt with for the sake of looking more professional, but last week I lost a set of keys when they fell out of my pocket when I was walking between buildings because the pockets weren't big enough to hold them securely. Thankfully the keys were turned in, but I would like to avoid this situation but still look professional. I really don't want to have to carry a bag just because my pants aren't practical.

So women of Metafilter - can you recommend some professional looking pants (chinos or slacks) that have decent enough pockets that I can keep a set of keys in them when walking around campus? Or my hands. This is frustrating to no end.

posted by kendrak to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (15 answers total)

As long as the leg isn't too fitted in the thigh, a tailor would be able to replace the pocket interior in any pair of pants.
posted by defreckled at 5:00 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

I feel your frustration. While I have not had much luck finding women's pants with useful pockets, I figured out how to extend the pockets of my existing pants as long as I want, even halfway down the thigh to hold tons of items. (tip: Too long, and it's rather embarrassing to fish out your wallet/keys in front of other people)

It's not at all hard to do, if you already know how to sew. Just turn the pants inside out, and cut out the bottom seams of the front pockets. Create a cardboard template for the pocket extensions, and use muslin as your fabric. It takes some strategic pinning, but you can improve your pants immensely by doing this. If you are not handy, I'm sure a tailor could do this pretty easily.
posted by oxisos at 5:04 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

I'd either go the tailor route to extend pockets or look at men's pants. Women's pants tend to be universally designed with either very small pockets or fake pockets because pockets are thought to ruin the line of women's pants. Yes, it's ridiculous.

I have had better luck finding little jackets with good pockets to solve this issue.
posted by quince at 5:21 PM on October 9, 2014

Are you opposed to dresses? Because I have found a lot of dresses with great pockets for putting my own awkward hands in.
posted by three_red_balloons at 5:48 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Men's pants. Those are not super professional ones - they're from an Aussie chain store anyway - but they are out there and even though I've got a pear/hourglass sort of shape they fit better than women's pants AND I can fit stuff in the pockets (my final straw was breaking the headset on a new phone because if I sat down in women's pants it pushed everything out of the back pocket).
posted by geek anachronism at 5:53 PM on October 9, 2014

I have a couple of pairs of Gramicci pants that have GREAT pockets. Google around and find their chinos; you're likely to love them.
posted by workerant at 6:19 PM on October 9, 2014

I got ragey once and brought a pair of pants with stupid pockets to a tailor. They thought I was a little odd because I was paying about 50% the price of the pants just for some pockets, but damn if they aren't my favorite pair now. It's not a difficult thing to do if you have sewing skills, but I wanted a template and am a terrible procrastinator with alterations.

To actually answer your question, LL Bean has some good pants and all the ones I've gotten have had decent pockets.
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:28 PM on October 9, 2014

I have these in grey and navy blue, and the pockets just fit my (large) hands and definitely fit a bunch of keys
posted by Gwendoline Mary at 6:44 PM on October 9, 2014

This is why I buy men's trousers now.
posted by jb at 6:59 PM on October 9, 2014

Anne Taylor.
posted by Dashy at 7:02 PM on October 9, 2014

I want men's trousers now. Any tips for good lines, things to look out for?
posted by amanda at 7:59 PM on October 9, 2014

Response by poster: I haven't had good luck with men's trousers because I am short (and short waisted) with hips and thighs. I have a few pairs, but they don't look good when I tuck my shirts in.
posted by kendrak at 8:41 PM on October 9, 2014

Are you opposed to hanging the keys off a belt loop? One can accessorize with different styles from subtle to street.
posted by homesickness at 9:43 PM on October 9, 2014

I have these pants from Target and I was happily surprised at their ample pockets. At least, the pockets were ample once I took out the stupid tack stitches keeping them shut.

Ankle length is probably not ideal for fall / winter, but possibly other Target pants are well-pocketed?
posted by charmcityblues at 9:50 PM on October 9, 2014

I just bought another pair of these women's work pants from Duluth Trading Company. The pockets are great (8 of them, without looking lumpy!), there are 4 inseam lengths available, and this short lady with hips & thighs finds them to be very comfortable.
posted by superna at 3:15 PM on October 10, 2014