# Ticket Pocket on Men's Suits..In Style or Outdated?



## JRegan14 (Oct 29, 2007)

Can anyone give me background on "ticket pockets" on suits. I recently saw a nice looking men's suit that had a ticket pocket on the right side of the jacket. My question is, does anyone wear these on their suits? I've never seen them. I didn't know what it was till I asked. Not sure if this would be seen as being "in style" or outdated. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!


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## Will (Jun 15, 2004)

Always in style on Friday or country suits and odd jackets. Pushing the envelope for pin stripes (though I have a charcoal pin with one).


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## joshuagb (Nov 27, 2004)

Will said:


> Always in style on Friday or country suits and odd jackets. Pushing the envelope for pin stripes (though I have a charcoal pin with one).


Why is it pushing the envelope for pin stripes?


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## alebrady (Oct 14, 2004)

i like them a lot as an added bit of interest or something special. i know traditionally it is for more casual suitings and sports jackets but, personally, i would have no problem having this be on of the 'rules' that i knowingly break (i.e. have it on a 'city' suit).


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## Rossini (Oct 7, 2007)

It's very popular at the moment and is "in vogue" at the present time for MTM/bespoke. For a classic long-serving piece (like a main suit or blazer), you are better off without it as it will look outdated when the trend passes. As Will says, though, there's always a place for it on some garments.


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## PJC in NoVa (Jan 23, 2005)

joshuagb said:


> Why is it pushing the envelope for pin stripes?


The origin of the ticket (or cash or copper) pocket, like the origin of slanted pockets, lies in horseback-riding attire, which means sporting attire, which means less formal, hence the "not on city suits" dictum. ('Cash' or 'copper' come from the idea that this pocket was superhandy for carrying the coin or coins that a rider might need to pay tolls on rural byways with tollgates.)

Personally, I like these extra pockets and have them on several suits as well as some tweed jackets and a db navy blazer. I find the t.p. very handy for my bulky electronic car key.


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## Bishop of Briggs (Sep 7, 2007)

Rossini said:


> It's very popular at the moment and is "in vogue" at the present time for MTM/bespoke. For a classic long-serving piece (like a main suit or blazer), you are better off without it as it will look outdated when the trend passes. As Will says, though, there's always a place for it on some garments.


+1 - spot on!


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## omairp (Aug 21, 2006)

I agree with Will's assessment. I went for fitting on a bespoke solid navy suit today, and passed on it for precisely those reasons.


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## Tonyp (May 8, 2007)

I like the TP. I have it on many suits and have ordered it on two MTM suits. A navy SB side vents with FF pants and a Charcoal Grey SB PL FF pants with side vents. I think it is very stylish for me. Not everyone will. You have to set the style for yourself. Not all of my suits have TPs but that depends on your flare.


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## nicksull (Sep 1, 2005)

*Cool*

Ticket pockets are cool and perfectly appropriate for a modern suit. Thats precisely where i put my key/subway pass/driving license a split second before i lose track of it.
Why the quandary? Its one of those unneccessary details that sets us apart.


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

I don't think ticket pockets just are something of a current trend; they are a classic feature. I wouldn't get one on a pinstripe business suit, but I like them on solids. I think ticket pockets look best when the pockets are slanted. It goes with the more casual look. I love them with windowpanes.


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## english_gent (Dec 28, 2006)

ticket pockets ARE NOT TRENDS !!!

they are a classic sartorial feature.

all because you bloody yanks might have a fixation with em now and again , doesnt make them trends !

love n lollipops , EG :icon_smile_big:


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## Khnelben (Feb 18, 2005)

*I like them ...*

I have them on two of my Paul Smiths - one a very bold stripe suit and the other - navy with subtle stripes - the suits have slanting pockets (but at different angles).

A traditinal thing but it is very "in fashion" at the moment. If you walk along Saville Row you will see suits with (a) ticket pockets and (b) extreme slanting pockets - even on City suits.

Andrey

Go get one ))


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## english_gent (Dec 28, 2006)

most of my suits have slanting pockets with a ticket 'jobby'.

i like slanting pockets , they make the jacket look dynamic.

i look to the early to mid 60s for my inspiration.

60s sartorial dress is no longer 'fashion' but has transcended into the realm of classic clothes.


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## Khnelben (Feb 18, 2005)

*Being somewhat ...*

restrained in money and liking nice suits I get Paul Smith (in proper shops but on sale) and they have mostly slanting pockets nowadays and I pick ones with a ticket pocket.

I also bought a cord sport coat from Lewin - slanting pocket (but they carry ticket pockets on brown country suits only)

AND

Polo has ticket pockets even in the normal line but not slanting. I saw a great suit like that that outlet place near Cambridge (together with side tabs and sewn braces buttons).

Andrey


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## Rossini (Oct 7, 2007)

english_gent said:


> ticket pockets ARE NOT TRENDS !!!
> 
> they are a classic sartorial feature.


They are a classic sartorial feature which is increasing in prevalence due to a trend.

As Nicks says, yes they can be a detail that sets "us" apart. But, as with all of these sorts of details, moderation across a wardrobe is probably wise unless your job/circumstance/personality allows you to up the dandy quotient markedly.


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## culverwood (Feb 13, 2006)

I never like them on double breasted jackets. While they are a classic detail they are popular at the moment, once people see too many of them they will go back to being used in there classical place on sports coats.

On the same topic my Ozwald Boateng suits have a ticket pocket cut into the suit fabric just below the conventional pocket but hidden by the flap of the pocket (obviously on a Boateng suit these are trimmed with a bright fabric as is his wont). I have not seen this elsewhere. These are not the same as the pockets within the pocket many suits have.


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

english_gent said:


> ticket pockets ARE NOT TRENDS !!!
> 
> they are a classic sartorial feature.
> 
> ...


It amazes me to see so many sartorial differences between the two countries. Most in the US would see side vents on a suit as a current trend, but in the UK they are most classic. Conservative clothing in the US and UK differs greatly.


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## english_gent (Dec 28, 2006)

Matt S said:


> It amazes me to see so many sartorial differences between the two countries. Most in the US would see side vents on a suit as a current trend, but in the UK they are most classic. Conservative clothing in the US and UK differs greatly.


conservative clothes DO NOT DIFFER GREATLY between the countries.

we may adopt the odd feature for ourselves but the whole world trys to make english looking suits. :icon_smile:

take for instance italian clothes , the whole silhouette has become anglicised . an italian gentleman has always striven to look like an english gentleman. their contribution however has been to introduce lightweight cloths and light canvassing.

now back to the american/english difference!

hardy amies stated that americans refuse to feel uncomfortable in their clothes , hence the unstructured cut of suits and lighweight materials , more loose than restricting.

but the blueprints are all the same .


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## Eustace Tilley (Sep 23, 2007)

Tickets pockets are not a new fashion, simply because a few RTW retailers have started stocking suits with TP's. They've been around forever.

Will is correct in stating that they are traditionally meant for country clothes and odd jackets. I break that rule all the time, and get them on my city suits as well.


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## Concordia (Sep 30, 2004)

I got a few by accident on two city suits (solid mid-weight). Mis-communication with the tailor that I didn't feel like being a jerk about. I don't mind them-- there's some utility there, for house keys, cell phones and the like-- but especially for the navy birdseye I would not choose to have another.

I do willingly get them on sport jackets, however. Especially if the pattern leans a bit more toward the country but isn't especially busy.


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## english_gent (Dec 28, 2006)

a ticket pocket slims the waist more.


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

english_gent said:


> conservative clothes DO NOT DIFFER GREATLY between the countries.
> 
> we may adopt the odd feature for ourselves but the whole world trys to make english looking suits. :icon_smile:
> 
> ...


It is the details on the clothes that differ. A collar from a Jermyn St shirt is too wide for a conservative American. The conservative American wears suit and tie with a button-down collar, something that really isn't done in Britain. Side vents are fashion forward in the US, yet standard in Britain. The conservative dresser in the US never wears button cuffs, never links. Shirt pockets are on dress shirts in the US, but this would not be seen in the UK. There are plenty more differences I can think of. While the Italians suits often take from the English, the Americans did what they could to differ themselves. Brooks Brothers want their clothes to be different from the English, and it seems that almost every other clothes manufacturer in the US has taken influence from Brooks Brothers rather than the English.


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## s4usea (Jul 10, 2007)

I'm sorry, but I think this topic exemplifies what's wrong with customs and rules when it come to what a man today should wear. So many things that fall under the rubric of "what's proper" is a vestigial part of our past...

The fact of the matter is that if someone, almost anyone, outside of the confines of this forum were to see a ticket pocket on a more sartorial person they'd say, "what's that?"

It's like art, if you have to explain it loses it's effect. As such, whatever your personal preference a ticket pocket is inelegant.

There I said it. It's not elegant. It never was. It was functional, but the function has past for all but the few that find themselves in places where a uniformed person says, "ticket, sir."

Let it die.


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## joshuagb (Nov 27, 2004)

s4usea said:


> I'm sorry, but I think this topic exemplifies what's wrong with customs and rules when it come to what a man today should wear. So many things that fall under the rubric of "what's proper" is a vestigial part of our past...
> 
> The fact of the matter is that if someone, almost anyone, outside of the confines of this forum were to see a ticket pocket on a more sartorial person they'd say, "what's that?"
> 
> ...


 Perish the thought.


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

*Functional?*

I never even open the side pockets of my suits. Do those of you who have ticket pockets open them or leave them stitched up?


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## Mark from Plano (Jan 29, 2007)

s4usea said:


> I'm sorry, but I think this topic exemplifies what's wrong with customs and rules when it come to what a man today should wear. So many things that fall under the rubric of "what's proper" is a vestigial part of our past...
> 
> The fact of the matter is that if someone, almost anyone, outside of the confines of this forum were to see a ticket pocket on a more sartorial person they'd say, "what's that?"
> 
> ...


Lighten up Francis. What's functional about a breast pocket on a jacket? What's functional about a suit for that matter?

Unfortunately the message board serves primarily the function of enabling perpetual navel gazing; especially this message board.

If you like ticket pockets, get 'em. If you don't, don't. There's lots of making of laws where God has made no laws on this board.

A ticket pocket is an aesthetic. It appeals to some and not to others. To whom it appeals, get it. To whom it does not, avoid it. There is certainly historical precedent for it, so if you're arguing that it's inelegant take it up with the best dressed of the last 80 years. Otherwise why make such ridiculous prohibitions. Nonsense.


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## nikwik (Oct 29, 2005)

Mark from Plano said:


> Lighten up Francis. What's functional about a breast pocket on a jacket? What's functional about a suit for that matter?
> 
> Unfortunately the message board serves primarily the function of enabling perpetual navel gazing; especially this message board.
> 
> ...


Hear, hear..!


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## PJC in NoVa (Jan 23, 2005)

nikwik said:


> Hear, hear..!


 plus two


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## s4usea (Jul 10, 2007)

Mark from Plano said:


> Lighten up Francis. What's functional about a breast pocket on a jacket? What's functional about a suit for that matter?
> 
> Unfortunately the message board serves primarily the function of enabling perpetual navel gazing; especially this message board.
> 
> ...


Who is saying anything about prohibitions?

A breast pocket holds a pocket square, and I don't know about y'all, but my square comes out for a host of reasons...

For a suit, well, a suit is still often THE best go-to option for many men trying to combine style and function.

Form DOES follow function.

That said, there's plenty of things that are styling aesthetics that have no use and no place in the daily life of a man today. If we kept them around then we'd still dress in gossomer and silk and Beau Brummel would have been a revolutionary that was put down by those that couldn't be bothered to step out of their sartorial 80-year precedent setting pasts, (that's 3-4 generations) of the likes of German George the IIIrd and the Comte D'Orsey.

Really, some things deserve to die a natural death.


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## alebrady (Oct 14, 2004)

s4usea said:


> Who is saying anything about prohibitions?
> 
> A breast pocket holds a pocket square, and I don't know about y'all, but my square comes out for a host of reasons...
> 
> ...


dont really understand your premise at all - breast pocket is not anymore functional in my mind than the ticket pocket. Sure, you can keep a pocket square in there but you could just as easily put it any of the other approximately 8 pockets that are on a typical suit.

i could make the same functional argument you are making with a pocket square/breast pocket with any number of analogous combinations (a subway ticket/ticket pocket combination, for example)


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

I like the ticket pocket, hacking pockets and peak lapels on suits and sport jackets!!

It's an expression of style for me. I might not do it for a suit that I was wearing for a presentation to the Board of Directors of a large Corporation, *but *(thank goodness!!!) I'm not in that position anymore!

The places I wear a suit or sport jacket (mostly weddings, funerals, social occasions, Ask Andy events and the NYC CSE) those style elements are perfectly OK.


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## PJC in NoVa (Jan 23, 2005)

I use my t.p.'s all the time, to hold car keys or Metro farecards or electronic door cards at the office or sometimes change. These pockets are quite functional as far as I'm concerned.


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## Cantabrigian (Aug 29, 2005)

If you don't like ticket pockets, there's no reason to get one. 

But if you like them (and I do), I wouldn't necessarily get one on every suit or sportscoat. Think about 
- what you'll be using the suit for (e.g. will it ever be an unwanted distraction)
- how it looks with the fabric and other styling options
- if it looks good on you - if you're 5'6" maybe you don't need too much more clutter around your waist 

I think a well done TP can look very nice. But I've never looked at a suit and felt it was missing a TP.


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## RSS (Dec 30, 2003)

I'm a fan of ticket pockets on sport coats and country suits.

As you can see ... I added one to this overstuffed chair. Well ... it just look like upholstery fabric ... it actually makes up nicely as a sport coat.

[/


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## nicksull (Sep 1, 2005)

A ticket pocket, like cuff buttons (functioning or otherwise) is one of those vestigial details that we no longer need but keep all the same. I say chill and have one. There is no reason to worry about their rightness.


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## joshuagb (Nov 27, 2004)

I'm going to construct some sort of Velcro or bobby pin ticket pocket that I can attach to any garment. Maybe I'll make it out of silk, so it could be sort of like a pocket square. Awesomely festive and ultimately useful.


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