Pockets: the billion-dollar invention that still hasn’t gotten enough attention. You heard it here first folks, pockets are actively being deprived of much-needed appreciation, and they won’t stand for it any longer.

From being inadequately sized to being deliberately excluded from certain clothing items, pockets are feeling the heat of an industry that’s going nowhere. It’s about time that we stand up for our helpful comrades considering all they have done for us.

These lil’ pouches have been there through thick and thin, in shorts and in pants and in most of the other questionable outfits you have worn in the past. Remember that time when you thought you were broke, but then your pocket surprised you with that extra 20 bucks you totally forgot even existed? Or the time as a kid when you finished half a lollypop, and proceeded to realize you wanted to save the rest of it for later? What did you do? Wrapped it back up and stuck it in your pocket, that’s what. Two hours later, the candy you placed in the deepest crevices of one of your back pockets is still warm from you sitting on it and is once again ready for your enjoyment.

At the time it was invented, the pocket — from the Northern French word “poque,” meaning “bag”— was less similar to the modernized version of the pocket that we are so accustomed to today, and more so to what we currently refer to as the “fanny pack.” Interestingly enough, this 15th century idea wasn’t even something that was sewn into clothing. Rather, they were relatively petite satchels that would hang from a man’s belt or tied around his waist (that is, according to “A Man’s Pockets” via The Art of Manliness).

Now, we know pockets as the shallow cavities in our bottoms, typically located on the hips and buttocks of men, women or anyone who enjoys a good ol’ pair of jeans. As fashion changed over the centuries, pockets were eventually incorporated into women’s clothing (which, if you ask me, is the biggest milestone in the history of women’s fashion).

Although this was an improvement, the fashion industry is still compromising the full potential of pockets for the sake of what’s “trendy.” The very people who claim they have the authority to tell us what’s “cool” and what’s not are, more often than not, completely ignoring the sole purpose of pockets: to hold things.

Anyone who doesn’t live under a rock can see that phones are a substantial part of day-to-day life in society. Having a phone means needing a place to keep it where it is safe yet easily accessible (besides holding it in your hand), and while a pocket seems like a decent place to store a smartphone, pocket-makers are simply not keeping up with the times. As new phones emerge in the world of technology, it seems that the phrase “the bigger, the better” is being applied to their designs. With this steady increase in the size of phones, it is becoming more and more apparent that women’s pockets are not keeping up. Just imagine coming home with your new iPhone 6 Plus only to find that it doesn’t fit in any of your pants. Have fun lugging that clunky thing around.

There has also been an emergence of synthetic pockets. This is basically material that is sewn in such a way that it gives the illusion of a pocket, when in reality there is no pocket there. Whoever’s ludicrous idea this was must have forgotten the function of pockets while distracted by their charming allure (which is understandable, but unforgivable nonetheless).

Pockets are both practical and aesthetically pleasing, so why shouldn’t everything have pockets? Dresses and skirts are especially lacking in pockets, and if they do have them they are usually for decoration (hence, not for practical purposes). However, it seems that a recent outbreak of dresses with well-functioning pockets has triggered an overall positive reaction, bringing hope for a future filled with pocket equality.