Bewitched, Bepocketed, Bewildered

Julie (of So-Retro Vintage Patterns) sent me this link to one of her babies. (Click on the image to visit the listing). Back me up on this, folks -- the woman on the right could fit HER OWN HEAD into her pockets, right? I'm not hallucinating?

Actually, even if I AM hallucinating, I'm not sure I care. Really, if you compare these pockets to all the enormous, obscenely expensive handbags that seem to be causing every celebrity ever snapped by a tabloid to list slightly to the right, they seem restrained -- sane, even.

(The dress on the right is actually very close to one of my favorite patterns, Butterick 7130, only with bonus giant buckled pockets.)

I do like how the woman in red has turned her face away from the spectacle, but is casting her eyes back ... Can't look, can't look away!

I was going to put a poll in this post but it would involve a lot of messy upgrading of my template, so I'll just ask you to leave a comment instead with your answer. Are these pockets:
A) ludicrous
B) practical
C) ludicrous, but less ludicrous than those ridiculous handbags (and certainly less ludicrous than legwarmers, which I thought had died in the 1980s and I'm disappointed in ALL OF YOU responsible for bringing them back, actual ballerina/os excepted)
D) "I'm wearing them right now, AIFG!"
E) Other (please specify).

(I promise I'll do a proper poll someday ...)

Comments

[Nicole]

Definitely c. They're whimsical, but no more so than a lot of other fashion trends today. I'd much rather see ginormous pockets than American Apparel-style leggings.

[the_lazymilliner]

The pockets are practical for, um, I'm not sure what. The dropping Dow Jones industrial average?

[Whitney]

A. They look like balloons, or fairy-tale bags of gold without the gold.Also, I like legwarmers. They keep my legs warm. =) I do wear them as an undergarment though, which I daresay you can grudgingly approve. Nobody sees them. In fact, they're rainbow colored and gloriously tacky.

[Stephanie]

I'm going to go with E. Ludicrous at first glance, but increasingly enchanting the longer one looks at them.

[j.thrift]

the pockets are practical (B), just as legwarmers are practical! If you wear skirts and dresses every day, as many of us do, and you live in a cold climate, and you walk everywhere in an effort to reduce your carbon emissions save money, leg warmers are crucial. Thick knitted stockings (which I wear) will cut the wind, but I need something to compensate for the lower half of my legs unprotected by a heavy skirt. And that something is legwarmers.

[Nadine]

I think D. Just not sure what AIFG stands for . . .Or if you like, E for AWESOME!

[lianaleslie]

It looks to me like something a classy, well-prepared bank robber would wear. Guns in one pocket, loot sticking out of the other like one of Scrooge McDuck's moneybags.

[Nadine]

Forgot to add - no hating on the legwarmers, now! Gotta wear something below the skirt. (Plus I'm a ballerina.)

[Anonymous]

My vote is practical but only until they are stuffed with grapefruit as shown by Lady View 1. Then they become ludicrous. I'm going to believe they are grapefruit and not something more Sweeny Todd-ish. -KG

[Susan W.]

C'mon, Erin, that's too much pocket, even for you. That dress is all pocket. The wearer fades into the background behind her outlandish pockets. POCKETS ARE A SIDE DISH, NOT THE MAIN MEAL!

[becky f.]

My vote would be a combination of C and E -- the pockets *are* less ludicrous than those handbags, until I imagine someone stuffing those pockets full of everything she'd carry in that handbag. I can only imagine how ludicrous that would look.

[La BellaDonna]

I LOVE the cut of View 1 - but I have to admit that if the pockets are filled with anything of substance, they are likely to pull the dress out of shape, and clonk annoyingly against the legs as the wearer walks. But if the pockets are reinforced, and the contents aren't too huge, the effect could be fun.And Erin, I'm inclined to vote with the I'll-wear-legwarmers-with-skirts-in-the-winter faction, especially if they don't show. It's only practical! How I love that dress ... maybe the money for that pattern will turn up in next month's budget; it's a little outside my Pattern Zone at the moment - especially for a pattern that isn't quite my size - I might weaken and fall if it were utterly right As Is ....

[La BellaDonna]

OMG, Erin, your linked pattern is exactly what I want. If you don't want to experiment with it any more - or if you want to make a copy and recoup your buying price - I'm your girl! Just send me an email if you're inclined.

[Little Hunting Creek]

Those are SOME pockets. I have never seen anything like them. I'm not sure most women want giant balloons on their hips, but if YOU do, this is your pattern

[Kristen]

I'm going to go with A on this one. Those things are ridiculous.

[Myra]

Erin, C - you have got to make this, for fun at least. I think on the right person, they could be so cool, I mean, look at the current styles. This has personality.

[Angela]

C ludicrous, just like leg warmers. I prefer knee highs or wool tights to keep my legs warm in the winter.

[Gidget Bananas]

A:ludicrous. Like the average woman needs saddlebags on her saddlebags. Yeesh!

[Anonymous]

C, definitely C. Although, in my part of the world, the ludicrously big handbags are being replaced with ludicrously small fist-sized handbags, despite the fact that enormous sunglasses are still in fashion. What would you have me do, enormous sunglasses manufacturers? Walk around with my enormous sunglasses in my hand, getting scratched and battered? And of course, don't think for a moment that a fist-sized handbag costs any less than a ludicrously enormous one. Grr, sometimes I hate fashion, which of course is why I sew and why I love this blog!

[Anonymous]

A. Ludicrous. At least the ginormous handbag is not physically part of your clothing and can be put down for a while. And yes, her head would fit in there. Wonder if anyone ever really wore this. Money bags on your thighs - what a concept! I'm with Belladonna, the cut of the rest of the dress is very nice, so maybe people made it and left off the bags. I mean pockets. Dawn

[Anonymous]

My first thought was "how handy to take the kids trick or treating...when their bags get too heavy, just dump them in the pockets and keep on going!" They would be too practical-you would fill them up. Handy to carry your lunch (or groceries in places that have outlawed plastic bags.)

[Ang]

Money bags stapled to her hips!!! Genius. ~Ang

[Jen]

i'm ok with it: -red/black dan river cotton plaid, bias cut-pockets: black leather straps with gold buckles or dog lease hooks.(my apologies to claire mc cardell and bonnie cashin for even pretending to combine cotton plaid and dog leash hooks together)

[beth]

A) ludicrous. Pockets should not be so large that their bottom is lower than knuckle level; otherwise you can't comfortably grab things that are at the bottom of them. (Also, when I put my hands into my pockets, the pockets need to SUPPORT my hands, not leave them dangling. My husband says I am unique in this preference. Is it true??)Pockets should also not be so large that they invite you to carry heavy objects in them - otherwise the heavy side will pull your dress/jacket/etc into lopsided uncomfortableness. (The kangaroo pocket on sweatshirts solves the problem neatly by being on the centerline). I say, if you have that much stuff to carry, might as well get a rolling suitcase. (PS. Instead of leg warmers, how about tall boots?)

[frog]

Definitely (A). I was going to go for (c) but then I decided they were even more ludicrous than legwarmers.