[frenchy]

That's a good question. This comes up every-now-and-then with my wife. She's usually says that pockets don't really matter, and then I point out that I have to carry her goods in my pockets.

I suspect it's something really subtle along these lines: Beautiful women can often get by being useless, so women in general acrew certain trappings of uselessness so as to associate themselves with beauty.

It's sort of like men and commuter pickup trucks (trucks are associated with hard-working men, so men buy trucks and drive them around town, even though they have no hard work to do).

[novok]

I think the more accurate reason is women carry purses because of the lack of pockets, and since most women have purses, you don't need to put pockets in your clothing. It also used to be scandalous for women to wear pants vs a skirt or a dress, which doesn't lend itself to pockets.

And aesthetically, a pocket stuffed with things, especially in more form fitting clothing, doesn't look good.

[kkarakk]

i don't think it's "uselessness" as much as aesthetics. form over function is always the primary consideration. there is no demand for pants with pockets and the rest follows. as a dude i've started preferring jeans with comically useless small pockets because i always carry the only things i need(smartphone has a wallet stuck onto it) in my hands