HAVE you ever wondered why on Earth that teeny tiny pocket is standard in most denim jeans?

It’s a weird one, isn’t it? The list of things that are right for this particular pocket size is fairly limited …

1) A pet grasshopper named Terry

2) Putting your last couple of bits of chewing gum in (and then forgetting they’re in there and putting them through the washing machine)

3) Putting a few spare coins in, and then almost dislocating your fingers when you try and wrench them out in an hurry

While most of us seems to simply accept this Weird Little Pocket™ as an inevitable part of fashion, someone with more spare time started a Quora forum thread posing this question.

Why do our jeans have a tiny pocket just above the front pocket? Was it something useful that was added or it is just a fashion thing?

A chap named Nitin Achdev (who describes himself as a “Thinker. Learner. Dreamer”) was clearly waiting for this topic to come up, and jumped in quickly with his response (which has been backed up through further research).

“It’s a watch pocket. Back in the 1800s, cowboys used to wear their watches on chains and kept them in their waistcoats. To keep them from getting broken, Levi’s introduced this small pocket where they could keep their watch.”

Someone else on the thread pointed out that this watch pocket had been getting smaller with time (as nobody uses pocket watches anymore) but it still remains a part of the original design.

So why do designers keep it?

According to the fine folk at Levi Strauss, the pocket is “loved by denimheads” for the faded and worn nature it takes on over time.

Interestingly there was no mention of the fact that as a company they’d lose an entire legion of customers who are boot scooters (as they’d have nowhere to hook their thumbs).

Three more fun facts about denim jeans worthy of our time:

● The word “jeans” comes from the cotton pants worn by “Genes”, the term for Genoan sailors

● The orange thread that Levi Strauss uses for stitching of their jeans is trademarked. It is used as a distinguishable feature and to match the colour of copper rivets

● Jeans were originally called “waist overalls”, which is undeniably adorable.