Would You Wear a Cocktail Dress... With Pockets?

Nov 05, 2007 @ 9:33am

This season on the runway, we noticed a flood of cocktail dresses with pockets on the side.

Apparently, we weren't just looking for a tenuous style thread -

The London Times confirms the trend with a story by Lisa Armstrong about the recent flood of evening pockets, as explained by Luella Bartley:

"Bartley thinks a slouchy insouciance is the key accessory when you’re wearing something traditionally formal these days, and that pockets give a woman the wherewithal to display just that."

It's true that the more dressed up we get, the harder we want to look like we don't care.

But we also remember when Renee Zellweger arrived at the Costume Institute in her Carolina Herrera dress, and all of our friends texted us one word: "What?!"

Of course, maybe that was just the dress, and not the pockets...

posted by Laia

Nov 05, 2007 9:42AM

pockets are great!

posted by Alison Cool

Nov 05, 2007 10:06AM

Pockets are the best for fancy dresses and skirts because if there are bowls of pretzels or candy at a party you can grab a handful and stash it in your pocket for snacking all night.

posted by Cail

Nov 05, 2007 11:11AM

I've actually got a few fancy dresses that have pockets-- including one Marc by Marc dress that I got last year. For me, it's a perfect way to be able to wear my glasses to a wedding/party, but not have to take up valuable purse real estate that should rightfully belong to multiple lip glosses.

With that said, I think that there's a fine line between artfully hidden pockets and looking like the unfortunate offspring of a ballgown and a sweatshirt. (Ahem, Renee.)

posted by DC Goodwill Fashionista

Nov 05, 2007 11:29AM

Pockets on a dress are inherently good, like puppies running in a field of flowers.

It's Renee's haircut and clavicle of steel that's dragging this look down. And would it kill her to wear some tiny stud earrings? -sigh-

posted by mpw

Nov 05, 2007 11:46AM

Good idea, Alison, but I doubt there's any candy in Renee's pockets. Lady needs to eat something!

posted by Rose

Nov 05, 2007 12:20PM

I have a Luella dress with pockets! I wore it for my sister's wedding last month. The pockets were the perfect place to keep the rings. They were handy and gave the dress, which had a tight corset effect, that casual feel that I needed.

posted by guest

Nov 05, 2007 3:30PM

Yes, I would buy a cocktail dress with pockets. But this isn't really new.

posted by FWD

Nov 05, 2007 3:49PM

I fully support this trend if it means that interviewers will replace "Who are you wearing?" with "What has it got in its pocketses?"