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Sartorial question - I'd love to know about.....

01:23 / 10.07.02

... a weird little pocket on the inside of a sportscoat. I've never seen anything like it before.

It's a narrow and deep additional pocket centered above the inside left breast pocket. Both of these pockets are placket pockets: the edges are finished with the same material as the outside of the coat. The breast pocket is in about the right place, about the normal size; and this other pocket is about two inches (3 cm) wide and six or so inches (15 cm) deep.

Anybody have any ideas what it might be for?

01:55 / 10.07.02

Maybe that's the pocket for a hankerchief. I don't know.

04:45 / 10.07.02

pens? or cell phone? no idea.

06:09 / 10.07.02

and this other pocket is about two inches (3 cm) wide and six or so inches (15 cm) deep.

My guess is that it's for a watchfob. Or maybe for the watch itself.

06:14 / 10.07.02

As every true gentleman know, it is his responsibility to ensure that any paramour he is in the company of does not need to concern her (or him) self with the thorny issue of contraception. Thus, all good suitmakers provide a small pocket for storage and easy retrieval of condoms.

Jack The Bodiless

13:09 / 10.07.02

When in a mature, stable and loving relationship, it is important to carry dead mice on your person at all times, in order that in situations of the utmost stress and urgency, you may feed siggy hir ration of rodent to calm matters.

Honestly, though, we seem to get this particular issue every few weeks on the board. You must be quite new. Can nobody find me a link to the last thread in which apparently redundant inside pockets of peculiar size and shape were discussed? I'm getting a little bored of giving the same answer over and over again.

13:14 / 10.07.02

What do you mean by sports coat, some of these big cold weather/mountain climing coats have pockets for tracking devices, I remember someone at school had one, although he only used it to get to school so I'm not sure what he expected to happen to him...

13:19 / 10.07.02

Eyeglasses? In the long-ago days when I was required to wear suits as a condition of my employment, I was in the habit of sticking my glasses in the outside breast pocket of my jacket, which I was told is a sartorial no-no.

Having happily given up the world of corporate banking to work like a crazy person in Silicon Valley (but in clothing of my own choosing), I now own one suit: a tuxedo, for choral performances and such...

14:43 / 10.07.02

Cigars. Just cigars.

15:23 / 10.07.02

It is an essential lesson about being a gentleman that one should never leave the house without a cucumber. Not a large specimen, as this might send the wrong kind of signal, especially in certain areas of the northern Sudan, but a medium-sized variety, commonly grown in special underground greenhouses in Covent Garden where the discerning gentleman may peruse and select from a number of high-quality brands. Alas, the custom of the cucumber-pocket is rarely encountered these days. However, any gentleman's tailor will be happy to modify your coat and should charge only a modest fee for what is, after all, a trifling alteration of major importance.

Seeing as you already have the pocket, you have the good fortune to be spared the task of charging your tailor to make the required alterations. I commend you on your choice of garment shop. Dare I ask where you purchased this most enlightened item?

00:24 / 11.07.02

I picked it up in the favorite second-hand shop of my favorite shopping buddy (while there with said partner-in-crime - I found a perfect blue-grey suede shirt for her [matches her eyes] and brought home three new pieces of leather myself; have to get more hangers!).

So far, pens and cigars seem to be the most likely things the pocket was meant to hold. The pocket is narrow enough that fitting two fingers into it is tough (so glasses are awkward - if they fit at all, the nose pads tend to hang up on the edges going in and coming out), and at six inches deep it would be difficult to get small items out of the bottom of the pocket without some sort of tool. Not good for condoms, I'm afraid...

And after those rude remarks about cucumbers and the like, don't start in on me about not being able to plumb the depths of my mysterious pocket with more than two fingers. Since the lining is rayon and the fabric is silk and the stitching is tight, "patience and trust and lots of lube" just isn't going to work against the obvious physical limitations I'm dealing with....

00:48 / 11.07.02

Fingers. You could keep a couple of Cadbury's FIngers in it, in case of appetite emergency. Alternatively, it'd probably make a handy hidey-hole for some lip salve should you be concerned with the possibility of chapping.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

06:51 / 11.07.02

Reasonably sure that watches go in waistcoats, so it's not for them. Cigars is a good idea, except that I think they might get a little squished. I had a pocket like that in a jacket once, and was told it was for pens, except I never quite believed it.

The other thing is that your never supposed to put anything in those pockets, even though they're there, because that might disrupt the lining of your suit.

Particularly important if one's a lady in a gent's suit, of course, because that's one of the most lovely sights available to the interested genders and should be displayed to fullest advantage without biro-shaped extras.

ONLY NICE THINGS

07:50 / 11.07.02

If any woman even *thinks* about daring to disrupt the enjopyment of the male gaze by disturbing the line of their for-our-entertainment gentlemen's suits, I for one will beat the shit out of them.

Cigar, singular, I believe, in torpedo case. Will ask friend who has just ordered a jeep with built-in humidor. He tends to know this sort of thing...

08:13 / 11.07.02

Ticket pocket, I think.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

09:24 / 11.07.02

If any woman even *thinks* about daring to disrupt the enjopyment of the male gaze by disturbing the line of their for-our-entertainment gentlemen's suits, I for one will beat the shit out of them.

%Of course, the only 'interested gender' would be men. Anything else is unthinkable.%

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:40 / 11.07.02

"The interested genders" means nothing. I think you mean "the interested parties". Which in this case are strapping, barrel-chested you and fearsomely heterosexual me.

Why do people always think I'm taking the piss?

We're The Great Old Ones Now

10:11 / 11.07.02

"The interested genders" means nothing.

Oh, does it? Right, well in that case, you're absolutely right. About everything.

Why do people always think I'm taking the piss?

Oh, I don't. I'm just as unable to ignore your tendency to rewrite what I say and then bitch at me about what you've said I said as you are to avoid doing it. Some fatal character flaw, no doubt.

ONLY NICE THINGS

10:21 / 11.07.02

"Interested genders" presumably means "genders who are interested in women wearing men's suits". If we assume that there are two genders, we can say with confidence that not all women will be interested in women wearing men's suits. We can also say with confidence that not all men will be interested in women wearing men's suits. There may be other genders out there which, although not possessing all identical characteristics (as they would then be one single gender) both or all have as one of the cardinal, distinguishing features of their taxonomy "are interested by women wearing men's suits". If p is true, q ("the phrase 'interested genders' has meaning") is also true. If p is false, q is also false.

Now, who wants a refreshing grown-up smoothie? I look forward to mine with enjopyment.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

10:40 / 11.07.02

I think I'll stay with childhood, thanks. Your version of 'grown up' is a joyless place.

10:53 / 11.07.02

Hee. You two are priceless when you get going.

But hey,

"...I for one will beat the shit out of them."

It's that threat of violence that I find surprising, Haus who never takes the piss.

The Planet of Sound

13:21 / 11.07.02

Feel free to expand, Haus; after all, you got so self-righteous and militantly upset when Grant Morrison made his 'rape' joke. Are 'beating the shit out of people' jokes now acceptable? My, how times change.

ONLY NICE THINGS

13:41 / 11.07.02

Remind me...the Grant Morrison joke?

13:51 / 11.07.02

I don't recall Tom ever getting raped by Jerry, but then I had a very sheltered childhood.

14:51 / 11.07.02

Whee! Lookit all I missed by sleeping from midnight to 7 am!!

If any woman even *thinks* about daring to disrupt the enjoyment of the male gaze by disturbing the line of their for-our-entertainment gentlemen's suits, I for one will beat the shit out of them.
I think some of the pleasure of looking at a woman in a man's suit comes from the subtle (or not so) rearrangement of the lines of the suit by a female body. Is this really a problem? Are some lumps enjoyable and acceptable?

I tend to stash a couple of small necessities in various pockets to keep from having to carry a purse; are the occasional little disruptions better or worse than having the entire jacket's appearance mangled by the shoulderstrap of a bag?

14:55 / 11.07.02

And, just out of curiosity, how many grown-ups does it take to make a smoothie? How many smoothies can you make from one grown-up?

Any volunteers??

We're The Great Old Ones Now

15:40 / 11.07.02

Are some lumps enjoyable and acceptable?

Oh, my, yes.

[From: The Men from the Ministry:

"You there! What would you do if an attractive young lady spontaneously kissed you?"

"Oh, I'd apologise immediately!"

"Good man."

I have no idea why I mention this. It's just the suits thing, I expect.]

14:32 / 12.07.02

Expert opinion from fashion maven of my aquaintance:
That little pocket is for tickets (theater,
movie, train), it's the jacket
equivalent of the coin pocket in jeans. A dandy
might wear a vest chain
and install a pocket watch there--although it's
showy and the distance is
not convenient. I believe the small pocket would
also be handy if someone
curtly asked for your "Pay-puhs, please" or you
had to store something you
didn't want to crush, like cigars or your loose
spectacles.

The larger inside jacket pocket naturally makes
more sense for billfolds,
cigarette cases, passports, and the handkerchief
you offer to distraught
ladies (not your fashionable pocket square).
Trouser pockets are reserved
for keys, knives, watches, and wallets you don't
mind losing to
pickpockets. Incidentally, all of these
articles should be loaded into
your clothes during initial alteration, so your
tailor might make
allowances for the cut of your jib when it's
fully rigged and weighted.

And now you know.
Kisses
K