Here's what that little pocket in your jeans is actually for

And no, it's not for your coins...

You know that tiny pocket in your jeans? The ones you stuff coins, packs of chewing gum, your best lipstick and other mini items into? We’ve always wondered what it’s actually for - surely it must have a purpose?

Well, in exciting fashion news, the little pocket does indeed have a reason for being, and now it’s been revealed on an internet forum.

One curious Quora user asked: "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?"

Well, here’s the scoop: it’s actually a pocket created so that cowboys would have somewhere to keep their watches.

Yes, really.

Omniscient Quora user Nitin Sachdev elaborated: "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."

Who knew?

Nowadays, it’s known as a coin pocket – but, as the Levi Strauss blog wisely advises, it could be used for multiple other purposes, including storing condoms, matches and tickets.

"The first blue jeans had four pockets - only one in back and, in the front, two plus the small, watch pocket," the article reads.

"Originally included as protection for pocket watches, thus the name, this extra pouch has served many functions, evident in its many titles: frontier pocket, condom pocket, coin pocket, match pocket and ticket pocket, to name a few.

"Not only is the pocket extremely useful for holding tiny trinkets, it is also is loved by denimheads for the faded and worn nature it takes on over time."

We can’t say that we’re proud owners of pocket watches, or that we ever masquerade as cowboys, but our little coin pocket has come in extremely useful over the years – and we’re happy to have this little nugget of fashion history under our belts.