Smile Pockets
Fashion Terms — the Apparel Search fashion terminology directory
A smile pocket is a pocket typically unique to western shirts — though it can be used on clothing that is not western in nature — with a curved, usually angled opening most often defined by piping at its border, where the border comes to a point resembling an arrow (and resembling a smile from a face). It comes in both a functional design and a faux, non-functioning version. A pocket itself is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items, most commonly on pants and shirts.
What is a shirt smile pocket? First let’s discuss whether or not you know what the word “pocket” means. Even though we assume you understand the meaning already, here is a brief definition. A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. They are most commonly used on pants & shirts. Pockets may also be attached to luggage, backpacks, sweatshirts, and similar items. Even handbags have pockets. Pockets are a perfect place to keep your car keys or your hands in cold weather. For you historians, the older usage of the term pocket often referenced a separate small bag or pouch.
The smile pocket is typically unique to western shirts. However, it can obviously be used for clothing that is not western in nature. This type of pocket comes in both a faux (non-functioning version) and a functional design. Smile pockets have a curved, usually angled, opening that is most often defined by piping at its border. The border comes to a point resembling an arrow (and resembling a smile from a face).
Do you own shirts with smile pockets? If yes, do you also ride a horse?
You may also have interest in learn about western yoke shirts.
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The Western Shirt Detail
Western shirts are a vocabulary of details, and the smile pocket is one of its most recognizable words. The standard chest pocket is a rectangle with a straight top edge — invisible as design. The smile pocket replaces that straight edge with a curve, angles it, and outlines it with piping so the opening reads as a deliberate feature across the chest. The point at the border, like an arrowhead, and the curve, like a smile, do double duty: the name describes both the shape and the expression it gives the shirt front.
The piping is doing practical as well as decorative work. An opening edge is where a pocket wears first — hands and objects pass it constantly — and a piped border reinforces that edge while defining it visually. In the faux version, piping and curve are the entire garment feature: the shirt carries the western signal without a functioning pocket behind it, a common economy in fashion versions of workwear styles. In the functional version, the receptacle behind the opening follows the ordinary pocket definition — a small bag for small items — shaped to the curved mouth.
Smile pockets are usually discussed alongside the western yoke, the shaped shoulder panel that structures the back and front of the same shirts; together they are the two details that identify a western shirt at a glance. For pattern and spec purposes, both are the kind of named feature a size spec or product description has to call out precisely — which is why small construction terms like this one earn their own pages in a terminology directory: a buyer, a factory and a shopper all need the same picture attached to the same two words.
Common Questions
What is a smile pocket?
A smile pocket is a shirt pocket, characteristic of western shirts, whose opening is curved and usually angled and is outlined by piping. The piped border comes to a point — resembling an arrow, and resembling the smile of a face — which gives the pocket its name.
Are smile pockets functional?
They can be either. The smile pocket design comes in a functional version that works as a real pocket and a faux version that is non-functioning decoration. Both use the same curved, piped opening as a design feature.
Do smile pockets only appear on western shirts?
They are typically unique to western shirts and belong to the same western shirt vocabulary as the shaped yoke. But the design can obviously be used on clothing that is not western in nature, and it appears wherever a shirt wants that western detail.