On Monday morning, you pull a pair of cream trousers from the wardrobe without much thought. The colour goes with your shirt, and there's nothing odd about the cut. It's only in the lift mirror at the office that you see them: two big boxy pockets sitting on your thighs, flaps and all. These are the cargo pants for your Sunday morning market run, and now they're coming along to the nine o'clock meeting.
Your work trousers are cream too, in a similar fabric. The only difference is the pockets, and that alone makes you want to duck behind your desk as fast as you can.
Pockets are rarely the first thing you check in a shop. Usually it's colour first, then size. Yet the shape of the pockets tells people whether a pair of trousers was made for the office or for hauling things around. It also decides how much you can carry before the trousers start to bulge at the hips. These are the three types of trouser pockets you'll come across most often in menswear.
Slash Pockets: The Most Common and Most Neutral
Slash pockets sit on the front of the trousers. The opening is cut on an angle that follows your hand as it slides in. Nearly every pair of chinos has them. Chinos are the cotton trousers plenty of men wear everywhere from the office to their usual hangout.
From a distance, a slash pocket is barely visible. You see only a thin line that blends into the side of the trousers, so the fabric looks unbroken. That's why trousers with slash pockets can see you through a morning presentation and on to a relaxed dinner without ever feeling like the wrong outfit.
For comfort, they're hard to beat. When you're walking, you can slip a hand in without looking down. When you sit, the angled opening helps keep your phone from sliding out onto the car seat.
Slash pockets also know their place when the trousers have another detail to show off. Take these coffee-brown gurkha trousers. Gurkha trousers fasten at the waist with buckled straps on both sides, no belt required. That waistband already steals the show, so the pockets don't try to compete: angled at the front, a thin line at the back.
Welt Pockets: A Thin Line and the Neatest Finish
Have a look at the back of your dress trousers or work chinos. Usually all you'll find is a single thin horizontal line, sometimes with a small button beneath it. That's a welt pocket. The name comes from the welt, a narrow strip of fabric that binds the edge of the opening so it closes like a pair of lips. With almost nothing sticking out, it's the neatest of the three.
The trouble is, it doesn't take kindly to being overstuffed. Cram a thick wallet in and the line gapes open like a mouth with too much in it, and over time the fabric around it stretches out.
New trousers often arrive with their welt pockets still stitched shut. That stitching is only temporary, there to keep the pockets flat while the trousers hang on display. To use them, gently unpick the stitches with small scissors. If you like the back completely smooth, just leave them closed.
Welt pockets work best on trousers that rely on the drape of the fabric to look neat. A good example is this pair of black wide-leg trousers with an elastic drawstring waist. The back pocket is just a thin line with a small button, and you can't see the side pockets from the front. With nothing bulging anywhere, the fabric falls smoothly from hip to hem.
Patch Pockets: Casual Look, Plenty of Room
Patch pockets are easy to recognise. A piece of fabric is sewn onto the outside of the trousers, so its boxy shape and the stitching around its edges are plain to see. You'll find them most often on cargo pants and outdoor work trousers.
People read them as casual at a glance. Fair enough, since these pockets were made for carrying things. There are degrees, though. Small patch pockets on the back are still safe for an office with a relaxed dress code. Big pockets on the thighs, like the cargo pants in that lift mirror, clearly belong to the weekend.
The payoff is space. The pocket sits outside the body of the trousers, so your phone and wallet fit without making the sides bulge.
How to Tell Pocket Types Apart in Store and Online
In a shop, don't just stand in front of the mirror. Slide your hand into each pocket all the way to the bottom, then sit for a moment on the fitting room chair. A phone that feels fine while you're standing can start digging into your thigh once you sit down.
Shopping online takes a little more work, but it's doable. Zoom in on the front and back product photos. A diagonal line on the front means a slash pocket. A panel of fabric stitched all the way round means a patch pocket. If all you can see is a thin horizontal line, that's a welt pocket.
One more thing: don't go by the name. A pair sold as a workpant doesn't automatically come with patch pockets. The cream chino workpant, for example, has slash pockets at the front and welt pockets at the back. That's the most common combination on chinos, and a safe one for the office. The same model also comes as a navy blue workpant if you'd rather go darker.
Choosing Pockets for the Occasion and What You Carry
Before you pick a pair, think about where you're going and what you'll be carrying. A client meeting or a wedding reception? Go for slash pockets at the front and welt pockets at the back. A whole day getting around town with your motorbike key and a parking ticket in your pocket? That's when patch pockets earn their keep.
Your phone is safest in a deep front pocket, whether it's a slash pocket or a patch pocket. In a back pocket, it gets squeezed every time you sit down.
A thick wallet should move out of the back pocket too. Besides ruining the line of a welt pocket, it leaves you sitting lopsided. If yours is packed, put it in a front pocket or your bag.
Tomorrow morning, before you pull a pair of trousers from the wardrobe, take a quick look at the pockets. Big fabric boxes on the thighs? Save them for Sunday.