I’m a guy. I probably carry enough in my pockets to fill a small purse: wallet, multi-tool, miniature tape measure (which I should retire) car keys, chapstick, pennies–one front pocket. Checkbook, calendar/phone book (other front pocket). Several handkerchiefs (especially during allergy season) in one rear pocket, change in the other. (Pennies are hard to tell from dimes by feel, so they go in a front pocket.) I like to have at least $3 in change, mostly so that I can operate coin-op machines without having to hunt up a bag of stuff.
I also use my breast pockets for a small pad (which often carries some my next prescription for regular meds) a small cellphone (I used to have a large one for my wallet) and various other stuff, like eyeglass
wipes. This is probably not a good option for the ladies.
Note that the trouser pockets are all the kind made with a sack of white fabric, rather than patch pockets, which are good for very little.
A hint on wallets: different kinds are more or less effective in using space. I like the bifolds that hinge on the long side. They are a hard to find. I don’t carry any pictures there (except for the one on the driver’s license). There are very slim wallets made, and they work when you don’t put too much in them. When travelling (rare) I’ll use one for one credit card and a stack of traveller’s cheques, and tuck it behind the checkbook (which is in a large leather wallet–deliberate, to make it too hard to dip).
On the larger question of women defining themselves by how they look: really understanding that would redefine feminism, and probably society. I don’t know if we are ready for it.
