Is it just me? Or are jeans’ pockets shrinking? On a recent trip to purchase a pair of jeans, it shocked me to discover the front pockets were only a hint of what used to be there.

I lugged my plethora of pants to the dressing room. Tried each one on for the pass/fail test. Sat. Stood. Stretched. Slipped my hand in the front pockets aka “the pocket test.” You know, the part where you see how much will fit in the front pocket. Personally, I want a lot of room so I can tuck in tissues, keys, Chapstick, and well, my actual hand if my fingers are cold.

While most of the jeans fit, none of them were pocket-test-worthy. I went back out to the displays and stuck my hand in all the pockets, just to see if the batch I got were defective. Nope. Not a single one was deeper than… well, see for yourself. I took a picture when I got home of my 2 3/4″ deep pockets.

And just to compare, I tested a well-worn pair in my closet ready for retirement. Sure enough, my entire hand, past the wrist, fit perfectly.

Now, you might wonder why pockets are so important to me. And that’s a fair question. I don’t carry a purse when I shop. I rely on my pockets to hold keys, tissues, etc., along with my phone case. Except for a bottle of water, I don’t want to hold anything. In fact, my bottle of water would fit in the front pocket of my old jeans—so I could shop, completely hands-free.

The only redeeming thing (pocket-wise) about the jeans I purchased—the back pockets were big enough for my cell phone. And finding a pair that fit that criteria wasn’t easy. Have you noticed some jeans now have fake sewn back pockets??? I better save that rant for another post.

What about you? Do you like big pockets? Small pockets? No pockets? Share your thoughts in the comments.