A Levi jeans historian has revealed the reason for the small pockets in jeans
Ever wondered why those tiny pockets in jeans exist? Well, today’s the day you finally get the answer!
While many people use these tiny pockets for loose change or small trinkets, you might be surprised to learn they weren’t originally designed for that at all.
These miniature pockets, tucked inside the larger main pocket of your jeans, have sparked plenty of speculation over the years. Twitter users have come up with some fun theories, like one who joked, “It’s for hiding money, so you forget about it… until you’re broke and then remember!”
One person reminisced, “Mom used to say, ‘A quarter for the phone.’”
But did you know that the tiny pockets in jeans have a fascinating history dating all the way back to the 1870s? The very first pair of jeans, crafted in 1873, included these small pockets—not for loose change or keys, but for an item that’s rarely used today. Yet, despite this, these tiny pockets have remained a classic feature of denim fashion.
So, what were these tiny pockets originally designed for? Believe it or not, they were meant to hold pocket watches—those small, metal-cased clocks that were the go-to timepieces of the 19th century.
While we no longer rely on pocket watches in our screen-filled world, back then, wristwatches weren’t yet the norm. Pocket watches were the tool of choice for telling the time. Historian Tracey Panek, who works for Levi Strauss & Co., shed light on this in an interview with Insider. She explained, “The oldest pair of waist overalls in the Levi Strauss & Co. archives (from 1879) includes the watch pocket. Our 19th-century overalls had a single back pocket on the right side beneath the leather patch.”
Interestingly, “waist overalls” was the original name for the jeans Levi Strauss & Co. introduced in 1873.
So, why do jeans still have these tiny pockets today? Despite the pocket watch being a thing of the past, there’s still a practical reason for the watch pocket’s continued existence. Panek revealed, “During WWII, the two corner rivets were removed to conserve metal for the war effort. After the war, the rivets returned, and the pocket featured our signature arch design, known as the Arcuate, stitched with a single needle sewing machine.”
Pretty remarkable, right? What started as a practical feature has now become a timeless part of denim’s legacy.
“The watch pocket was a key part of our blue jeans’ original design, alongside the rivets, button fly, arched back pocket stitching, and leather patch,” Panek explained. “To honor the integrity of that early design, Levi Strauss & Co. continues to feature the watch pocket in our jeans.”
Panek further noted on Levi’s website, “This cinch-free blue jean, with the signature Arcuate, marked a shift from previous years when each Arcuate was uniquely stitched by a single needle. It represented the blue jean of the future, and you can still find it in our 501 jeans, more than 70 years later.”
She went on to share, “After World War II, Levi’s emerged refreshed, modern, and with a uniformly manufactured look. With a distribution that now reached across oceans, it was well on its way to becoming the iconic global garment it is today.”
