Abstract:
A pocket may be applied to an article of clothing, particularly upper body clothing such as a shirt, blouse, jacket, coat, scrubs, t-shirt, sweatshirt, hoodie, or the like. The pocket is oriented at an angle with respect to horizontal (nominal) or vertical (upright) to improve retention of a contained object such as a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant. A return is formed by stitching a partial closure along one side of the pocket, positioned at the lowest “upper” corner of the pocket (upper meaning opening end), closest to the center line of the article of clothing, on either the right or left. Knit fabrics work particularly well for retaining a weighted object such as a mobile phone despite various user movements leaning to one side or the other, forward, and even bent double whereby rendering the article of clothing in an upside down orientation.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/439,480, filed on Dec. 11, 2012, entitled SHIRT WITH DIAGONAL POCKET, which is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/426,255, filed on Jul. 2, 2012, entitled SHIRT WITH DIAGONAL POCKET, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/399,313, filed on Aug. 11, 2011, entitled SHIRT WITH DIAGONAL POCKET, now U.S. Pat. No. D662,688. All the foregoing references are hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates to clothing and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for designing, locating, and creating pockets for shirts and blouses. 
         [0004]    2. Background Art 
         [0005]    Clothing designs have developed over centuries, even millennia. Clothing in western civilization today relies on shirts and blouses for the upper body, along with trousers or skirts for the lower body, in various designs. Suits and dresses are also ubiquitous. A fixture in many articles of clothing for the upper body, such as jackets, shirts, blouses, and so forth is the breast pocket. 
         [0006]    Meanwhile, ubiquitous hand-held electronic devices continue to search for a home. Teenagers carry cell phones in trouser front pockets and back pockets, shirt pockets, jacket pockets, cases, on lanyards, and in various other ways. A certain demographic relies on holsters attached to waist bands or belts. 
         [0007]    A wide spread problem for pockets on upper body clothing articles is leaning. It is not uncommon, in fact highly common, for an individual who leans over or bends over for any reason to clutch at the breast pocket of the shirt in order to prevent pens, cards, cell phones, or other articles in the pocket from falling out onto the ground. 
         [0008]    As any weight of an article within a pocket tends to pull the pocket outward and away from the body or torso of the clothing article (e.g., shirt, blouse, etc.), any excess fabric surrounding the torso of the wearer becomes slack, falls forward, following the weight in the pocket, and thus provides an even greater reduction of any gripping or retaining capacity of the pocket. To solve this problem, much active wear includes a button and button hole, a button and flap, a hook-and-loop fastener combination on a pocket flap, or the like. For items that are not to be frequently retrieved from and replaced in a pocket, such mechanisms serve well. Mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and the like do not fit well in that category. 
         [0009]    What is needed is a pocket suitable for retaining a personal electronic device, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, or the like without additional closing mechanisms or seals. It would be a further advance in the art if such a system were readily accessible, operated automatically, was resistant to substantially all motions or all directions of motion. By resistant is not meant that a system should resist the motion of the user, but that such a system should resist the loss of contents of a pocket during motions such as bending over to lift an object or to pick up an article, leaning sideways in a work situation, or the like. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    In view of the foregoing, in accordance with the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, a method and apparatus are disclosed in one embodiment of the present invention as including a shirt, blouse, or other article of upper body clothing that includes a body or torso portion, and may be provided with sleeves. Typically, a collar opening will accommodate the neck of a user, and a lower opening will accommodate the torso. Such a shirt, blouse, or other article will typically have a lower hem or lower edge that may represent a shirt tail, but may be cut at a straight angle across in order to be worn outside of the waistband of trousers, skirt, or the like. 
         [0011]    In some embodiments, such articles of clothing may have an opening down the front, which may be closed with buttons. It may extend a short distance of several inches (centimeters) down from the collar opening, or may extend all the way to the lower hem, such as a fully buttoned-down shirt. Nevertheless, some shirts have only a short buttoned region (e.g., golf shirt) and others have no button opening (e.g., t-shirts, pullovers, etc.). 
         [0012]    In one embodiment of an apparatus and method in accordance with the invention, a pocket may be spaced selected distances from the collar and the shoulder line or shoulder seam corresponding to the shoulder of a clothing article. Meanwhile, the pocket may also be spaced a specified distance from an outer edge, such as the beginning of a sleeve. In certain presently contemplated embodiments, the pocket is angled away from the vertical at an angle of from about 34 to 56 degrees. An angle of about 45 degrees proves to be a suitable target angle. The pocket may be slightly more vertical or less vertical, as desired. Nevertheless, an angle of about 45 degrees has been found suitable. Nevertheless, it has been found also properly functional to vary that angle up to about 11 degrees in either direction. 
         [0013]    A functional feature of a pocket in accordance with the invention is a return, which is formed by a seam extending across the opening of the pocket near the lower edge thereof. Typically, the fabric of a t-shirt, golf shirt, or the like may be formed of a knit fabric, having a certain ability to stretch. Moreover, as such material is stretched in one dimension, it will typically shrink in an orthogonal direction. 
         [0014]    In one embodiment, a pocket may be tilted at 45 degrees from vertical, with the opening dropping down from the original, conventional uppermost position to turn inward toward the neck of a user and downward. Typically, the return will be formed by a seam at the lower edge of the pocket, and close a portion of the pocket from about ¼ inch to about ¾ of an inch. A return of about ½ inch has been found suitable. 
         [0015]    Meanwhile, the length of the pocket may be larger or smaller than conventional pockets. In one embodiment, the length of the pocket or the height is about the same as a conventional shirt pocket. However, it has been found suitable to narrow the width of the pockets slightly. Thus, the pocket will tend to be more snug about any carried object, such as a mobile phone. 
         [0016]    It has been found effective to position the pocket within a matter of inches of the shoulder line of a clothing article. For example, the lower corner on the upper opening of a pocket is typically about 6 inches from the shoulder seam in an adult article of clothing. 
         [0017]    Meanwhile, the opposite upper corner is typically about 3 inches from the shoulder seam. It has been found effective to place the pocket over the top of the pectoral muscle, and toward the upper portion thereof. There is a natural swale or hollow formed between the shoulder and the pectoral muscles that provides a convenient location for a pocket in accordance with the invention. 
         [0018]    Such a pocket may be sewn onto t-shirts, jogging clothing, athletic wear, sweat shirts, hoodies, jump suits, medical scrubs, dress shirts, sports shirts, golf shirts, jackets, and the like. Typically, regardless of the position taken by a user, the return (area enclosed on two sides near an upper inside corner of a pocket) tends to retain any contained object by a naturally occurring stress or restraint existing between that corner of the pocket and the edge of the opposite side, including a corner diagonally opposite the pocket. 
         [0019]    By placement above the pectoral muscle and closer to the neck, shoulder, and sleeve of an article of clothing, the article provides much better support for the weight of the object (e.g., mobile phone, personal digital assistant, personal digital device, tool, instrument, etc.) than other shirt designs. 
         [0020]    For example, by capturing the upper portion of the pocket in the region bounded by the neck, collar, or the like, on the inside, with the sleeves seam opposite on the outside, and the shoulder seam thereabove, great stability is provided to the pocket, without sagging. This is in contradistinction to conventional shirts where weight in a breast pocket tends to shift the fabric and create an undesirable sagging appearance. In fact, some manufacturers of dress shirts provide no breast pocket in order to avoid that uneven, sagging appearance. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]    The foregoing features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0022]      FIG. 1  is a frontal perspective view of one embodiment of an apparatus and method, embodied as an article of clothing in accordance with the invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 2  is a front elevation view thereof; 
           [0024]      FIG. 3  is a left side elevation view thereof; 
           [0025]      FIG. 4  is a top plan view thereof; 
           [0026]      FIG. 5  is a front elevation view thereof, inverted (upside down orientation); 
           [0027]      FIG. 6  is a front elevation view of a pocket in accordance with the invention embodied in a shirt, with the pocket on the left side, and the shirt leaning to the right as a user would move; 
           [0028]      FIG. 7  is a front elevation view thereof, with the shirt tilted to the right to be fully horizontally oriented; 
           [0029]      FIG. 8  is a left side elevation view of this embodiment, with the shirt tilted fully forward to a horizontal orientation; 
           [0030]      FIG. 9  is a left side elevation view of a pocket on an article of clothing in accordance with the invention with the clothing and user bent almost double orienting the pocket upside down; 
           [0031]      FIG. 9  is a front elevation view of a left side pocket of an article of clothing wherein a user is leaning to the right at about half a right angle; 
           [0032]      FIG. 10  is a front elevation view of a pocket on an article of clothing in accordance with the invention wherein a user has a pocket on the right side of the article of clothing 
           [0033]      FIG. 11  is a front elevation view thereof, wherein a right pocket is positioned on an article of clothing by a user where the user is bent completely double, orienting the article of clothing and the pocket completely upside down; 
           [0034]      FIG. 12  is a detail of the pocket of  FIG. 6 , the pocket on the left side (from wearer&#39;s point of view) of the shirt, with the return seam on the right side of the pocket, and the shirt is tilted far to the right (e.g., horizontal) as when a user is leaning to the right; 
           [0035]      FIG. 13  is a front elevation view of a pocket sewn onto the right side (from wearer&#39;s point of view) of a shirt, thus with the return seam on the left of the pocket, and the shirt oriented as if a user were tilted far sideways ( horizontal) toward the wearer&#39;s left side; 
           [0036]      FIG. 14  is a front elevation view of the pocket and shirt of  FIG. 12 , with the pocket and shirt tilted fully upside down from the upright wearer configuration; 
           [0037]      FIG. 15  is a front elevation view of the pocket and shirt of  FIG. 13 , with the pocket and shirt tilted fully upside down from the upright wearer configuration; 
           [0038]      FIG. 16  is an front perspective view of an alternative embodiment of an article of clothing having a pocket installed therein; 
           [0039]      FIG. 17  is a left elevation view thereof; 
           [0040]      FIG. 18  is a perspective view of an article of clothing, hospital scrubs, having a pocket installed therein in accordance with the invention; 
           [0041]      FIG. 19  is a left side elevation view thereof; 
           [0042]      FIG. 20  is a front perspective view of an alternative embodiment of an article of clothing having a pocket in accordance with the invention; and 
           [0043]      FIG. 21  is a left side elevation view thereof. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0044]    It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the drawings herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the system and method of the present invention, as represented in the drawings, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of various embodiments of the invention. The illustrated embodiments of the invention will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. 
         [0045]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , while referring generally to  FIGS. 1 through 18 , an article  10  may be embodied as an article of clothing  10  such as a shirt  10 , blouse  10 , jacket  10 , or the like. Typically, the article of clothing  10  will have a body  12  that is effectively the portion  12  that surrounds the torso of an individual. 
         [0046]    Typically, at the upper extremity of the body portion  12  on the article  10  is a neck opening  13   a.  Opposite, at the lower end of the article  10  and specifically the body  12 , is a lower edge  13   b  or lower opening  13   b  that forms the tail  13   b  or bottom  13   b  of the article of clothing  10 . Typically, the tail  13   b  may be cut as a conventional shirt tail, or may be cut at a horizontal angle and seamed or hemmed in order to be suitable for wearing outside of a lower article of clothing, such as trousers or a skirt. 
         [0047]    Sleeves  14  are indicated here by sleeves  14   a,    14   b.  In every instance, a trailing letter simply indicates a specific instance of an item identified by the reference numeral. Therefore, herein it is proper to speak of any item by its reference numeral alone, and in any specific instance by its reference numeral and trailing letter. 
         [0048]    Although it may vary in position, a sleeve seam  15  will exist in most fabricated articles  10  of clothing. Similarly, a shoulder seam  17  will typically exist to connect a front portion of the main body  12  to a rear portion thereof. Similarly, along the edges  34   a,    34   b  will typically be a side seam. The side seams  34   a,    34   b  or edges  34   b  are typically opened up in order to accommodate the arm opening created by a sleeve  14   a,    14   b,  respectively, thereby securing each sleeve  14   a,    14   b  to the body  12  along a respective seam  15 . 
         [0049]    A collar  16  may surround the neck opening  13   a  and may be any of several types. For example, a T-shirt will typically have a knit collar that is completely closed. A golf shirt  10  or sporting shirt  10  may include an opening  18  or strip  18  that may be opened or closed by means of buttons  19 . 
         [0050]    A pocket  20  may be positioned in any suitable location on the article  10 . Nevertheless, a particular concern has been the inability of a breast pocket on an article  10  of clothing to retain objects, and particularly heavier objects such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants or other instruments, when a user is leaning forward, or to one side or the other. Accordingly, a pocket  20  in accordance with the invention is tilted or canted off the typical vertical orientation. In the illustrated embodiment, a pocket  20  in accordance with the invention may be tilted at a suitable angle and positioned with distances  21   a,    21   b,    21   c,    21   d  defining its location and support. 
         [0051]    For example, the distance  21   a  may be thought of as the distance from the pocket  20  to a sleeve seam  34   a  or a left edge  34   a  of the clothing article  10 . The distance  21   b  may be thought of as the distance that the pocket  20  is translated from the lower edge of the sleeve attachment or the armpit of the article  10  of clothing. 
         [0052]    The distance  21   c  may be thought of as the uppermost extremity of the pocket  20  spaced away from the sleeve seam or the left side  34   a  of the article  10 . Likewise, the distance  21   d  may be thought of as the distance of the uppermost extremity of the pocket  20  away from a shoulder seam or the uppermost reach of the shoulder of the article  10  of clothing. These distances may be measured instead from the center line of a neck opening  36 , collar  16 , or the like. However, these distances are selected in order to position the pocket  20  above the pectoral muscle, and toward the upper reaches thereof in order to keep it well supported by the neck, sleeve, and shoulder of the clothing article  10 . A return seam  22  is sewn into the pocket  20 . 
         [0053]    In the illustrated embodiment, the upper corner  23   d  is typically positioned sufficiently close to the side seam  34 , neck  36 , and the shoulder seam  17  to provide excellent support and stability for the pocket  20  and whatever electronic instrument or other article  40  may be contained therein. Similarly, the return corner  23   a  and the diagonally opposite corner  23   c  are typically positioned sufficiently close to the vertical center line and the neck  36  of the clothing article  10  and the sleeve seam  15  of the clothing article  10  to maintain tension in most circumstances and sufficient support by the respective shoulder seam  17  thereabove. 
         [0054]    For example, the pocket  20  is tilted at an angle  24  with respect to horizontal. This angle has a value typically of from about 34 to about 56 degrees. A target position may be about 45 degrees within a degree or two. Thus, a 45 degree target angle or a 46 degree target angle has been found suitable. Nevertheless, the system operates well within the range of from about 34 degrees to about 56 degrees. 
         [0055]    In certain embodiments, a width  26  of the pocket  20  may be selected to correspond better with the size and shape of an article  40  such as a mobile phone, personal digital assistant, electronic instrument, notebook, or the like that will typically be carried in a pocket  20 . 
         [0056]    For instance, it has been found that a narrowing of the width  26  compared to the conventional width of a shirt breast pocket serves better to retain a carried article inside the pocket  20  below the return seam  22 . Likewise, by having a width  26  narrower than is customary in conventional design, the corners  23   c,    23   d  urge the contained article  40  toward the opposite corners  23   a,    23   b,  thus rendering the return seam  22  much more effective in maintaining a corner or edge of the contained article  40  inside the pocket  20 . 
         [0057]    The length  28  or depth  28  of the pocket  20  may be adjusted to meet typical sizes of articles that may be carried. For example, smartphones have largely settled out on a few standardized sizes. The length of the return seam  22  may be selected to actually close somewhat the opening  30  of the pocket  20 . When knit fabrics are the material of choice in a clothing article  10 , with its associated pocket  20 , then the opening  30  may actually be smaller than the circumference of the contained article  40 . 
         [0058]    Thus, gripping the article with fingers and drawing it out of the opening  30  of the pocket  20  will tend to stretch the knit fabric around the circumference of the opening  30 , thus releasing the contained object. Nevertheless, inadvertent dropping of such an article from the pocket  20  through the opening  30  will be rendered very rare, and nearly impossible in certain embodiments. 
         [0059]    For example, if the amount of force required to stretch the opening  30  sufficiently to release the contained object  40  from the pocket  20 , has a value greater than the weight of that object, then the return seam  23   a  will retain the object in substantially all orientations, absent some jolt or excessive force. 
         [0060]    In certain embodiments, a user may also push on the pocket  20  near the corner  23   b,  in order to urge an article out through the opening  30 . Thus, just as gripping a smartphone, for example, between thumb and forefinger at the opening  30 , an appropriate force of pushing at the corner  23   b  may likewise move a portion of the contained article  40  out of the opening  30  for retrieval and use. 
         [0061]    The bottom  32  of the pocket  20  will typically restrain and contain an article  40 . Similarly, the seam in securing the pocket  20  between the corners  23   a,    23   b  will likewise support a major portion of the weight of the contained article  40 . Nevertheless, the seam of the pocket  20  extending between the corners  23   c  and  23   d  will likewise provide support, as will the underlying fabric in the body  12  of the clothing article  10 . 
         [0062]    In the illustrated embodiment, the fit of the clothing article  10  about the torso of a user will tend to maintain tension within the body  12  of the clothing article  10 , as well as in the pocket  20  itself. Tension in the pocket  20  will tend to flatten it against the body  12  of the clothing article  10 , thus making the return seam  22  even more effective at maintaining the opening  30  as a closed slit  30 . 
         [0063]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 4 , one may see that the pocket  20  in accordance with the invention is well supported closer to the sleeves  15  and the shoulder seams  17  than conventional pockets Likewise, the corners  23   a,    23   b,    23   c  form a stable geometry for holding a contained article  40 . For example, a conventional pocket that would have a comparative width  26  wider than the pocket  20  illustrated (larger width-to-length aspect ratio) would not fit a contained article  40  as snuggly. It thus would tend to distort more easily, open more readily, and provide less restraint for the contained article  40 . Here, not only the overall dimensions  26 ,  28 , but also the orientation of the corner  23   b  as the lowest portion of the pocket  20 , all promote stable retention of the contained article  40 . 
         [0064]    Referring to  FIGS. 5 through 8 , while continuing to refer generally to  FIGS. 1 through 18 , a clothing article  10  is shown in various orientations. These are orientations in which a clothing article  10  may be placed during the movements of an individual. For example, a worker or a person involved in physical activities, recreation, labor, or the like, may move to various positions. Illustrated are exampled of positions that the torso of a user, and thus the clothing article  10  may take. 
         [0065]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , a pocket  20  positioned on the left side of a clothing article  10  may be exposed to leaning toward the right. In the illustrated example, the return seam  22  is best positioned closest to the vertical center line of the body of a user or the vertical center line of the clothing article  10 . Accordingly, with the clothing article  10  in the illustrated position, there is no effective tendency of the contained article  40  to leave the pocket  20 . 
         [0066]    In fact, the contained article  40  is captured between the corners  23   b,    23   c  and the corner  23   a  where the return seam  22  forms a containment barrier  22 . Of course, the pocket  20  may be positioned in a minor image position (about the vertical center line) on the right side of the clothing article  10 . Accordingly, an individual may lean to the right or the left. In the illustrated embodiment, the user is leaning at approximately a 45 degree angle with respect to the vertical (e.g., standing, vertical). 
         [0067]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , a clothing article  10  is shown, this time with the pocket  20  on the right side, although it could be a minor image on the left side. In this embodiment, a user orientation is leaning such that the pocket  20  has been rotated to approximately a right angle from its normal vertical orientation of the clothing article  10 . In this embodiment, the opening  30  of the pocket  20  is rotated effectively 90 degrees. 
         [0068]    Instead of being angled upward and toward the inside, it is angled downward at about the same angle that it was upward. In this instance, the return seam  22  is responsible to resist exit of the contained article  40 . Here, the corner  23   a  forms the vertex of a containment pocket  20  created by the seam of the pocket  20  between the corners  23   a  and  23   b,  and the return seam  22 . 
         [0069]    Moreover, in this example, the opposite corner  23   c  tends to act with the weight of the contained article  40  to push the contained article  40  toward the corner  23   a,  thus, the article would require being lifted toward the opening  30  before it could exit of its own weight. Again, with the proper selection of the width  26  of the pocket  20 , the seam running between the corners  23   c  and  23   d  would also tend to urge the contained article  40  against the opposite side of the pocket  20  and into the cavity created at the corner  23   a  by the return seam  22 . 
         [0070]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , it is extremely common for users to bend forward. In the illustrated example, the pocket  20  is positioned approximately in a horizontal plane. As a practical matter, the shape of the human body is such that the opening  30  will actually be positioned in a downward orientation toward the center line of the person and clothing article  10  and downward as to the opening  30  of the pocket  20 . In this embodiment, just as in the foregoing Figures, the return seam  22  forms a vertex at the corner  23   a  to contain a corner of the contained article  40 . Thus, the urging of gravity tends to bring the contained article  40  more forcefully into that corner  23   a,  where it may be retained. Again, the urging of the diagonally opposite corner  23   c  as well as that of the seam extending between the corner  23   c  and the corner  23   d  also tend to maintain the contained article  40  within the confinement of the corner  23   a.    
         [0071]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , a user may actually bend over almost double or fully double. Typically, when one reaches for a dropped writing instrument, such as a pencil or pen, a dropped paper, or the like, one may bend at an angle such that the pocket  20  approaches an orientation of upside down. Again, in this instance, the majority of the load of the contained article  40  will rest directly against the corner  23   a,  and specifically be restrained by the return seam  22 . This is a situation where the value of a comparatively narrower width  26  (and thus W/L aspect ratio) for the pocket  20  may assure that the contained article  40  cannot exit out the opening  30 . 
         [0072]    In certain weaves of fabric, where there is little or no resilience or stretching of the fabric. This fabric with the pocket in an upside down position would yield the most extreme likelihood for releasing the contained article  40 . However, even this situation is helped by a proper selection of the width  26 , the geometry of a pocket  20 . Two flat panels (body  12  and pocket  20 ) sewn together will tend to be expanded by the contained article  40 . By providing little clearance they urge the contained article  40  to rest in the corner  23   a  against the edge seam and the return seam  22 . 
         [0073]    Referring to  FIGS. 9 through 12 , various orientations of pockets  20  are illustrated. These represent pockets  20  positioned on both right and left sides of a clothing article  10 , and tilted in various directions. 
         [0074]    Referring to  FIG. 9 , a left side pocket  20  on a clothing article  10 , and specifically secured to the body  12  thereof is leaning to the right at about a 45 degree angle. Accordingly, one may see that the return seam  22  provides the corner  23   a  with an effective containment of the contained article  40 . Meanwhile, tension  38  along the axial direction or the length  28  of the pocket  20  tends to keep the article against the return seam  22 . 
         [0075]    Meanwhile, tension  39  across the width  26  of the pocket  20  tends to urge the contained article  40  against the opposite seam extending between the corners  23   a,    23   b.  Effectively, a net tension  42  exists in a diagonal direction from the corner  23   a  to the corner  23   c.  Tension tends to urge the pocket  20  and the body  12  of the clothing article  10  to flatten the overall cavity created therebetween, thus urging the contained article  40  to stay positioned inside. 
         [0076]    Likewise, the length of the return seam  22  may be selected in order to require stretching of the opening  30  in order to permit the contained article  40  to be extracted. In other embodiments, the length of the return seam  22  may simply be selected in order to create a sufficiently large pocket area (cavity) at the corner  23   a  to receive easily and resist exit by, the contained article  40 . 
         [0077]    Referring to  FIG. 10 , a right pocket  20  leaning at about a right angle toward the left has the same difficulties, exacerbated compared to those of the foregoing illustration. Here, the restraint of the return seam  22  again restrains the contained article  40  against exiting. 
         [0078]    Referring to  FIGS. 11 and 12 , the worst condition and most likely to release the contained article  40  from the pocket  20  is illustrated. In these embodiments, a left pocket  20  and a right pocket  20 , respectively, are illustrated in a fully upside down orientation. That is, with a user wearing a clothing article  10  and standing upright, the corner  23   d  is the highest corner  23  of the pocket  20 . In these illustrated embodiments, or orientations, the corner  23   d  is the lowest. Thus, the return seam  23  is operating at its least effective orientation. 
         [0079]    For example, the contained article  40  may move downward and sideways along the direction of the return seam  22 , thereby moving a larger proportion thereof toward the opening  30  of the pocket  20 . If the width  26  of the pocket  20 , and specifically the dimension of the opening  30  is sufficiently open, a contained article  40  could slide out. However, the return seam  22  is engaged to turn the article  40  and catch a corner of it. 
         [0080]    In many embodiments, particularly where knit fabrics are involved, the opening  30  is sized by the return seam  22  to be slightly less than the width dimension of the contained article  40 . In this way, the contained article  40  can be restrained against exiting the pocket  20  absent sufficient force in a proper direction to extract the contained article  40 . 
         [0081]    Referring to  FIGS. 13 and 14 , an alternative embodiment of a clothing article  10  may have no sleeve at all. Likewise, with lower U-shaped necks  13   a,  the pocket  20  may need to be positioned at a suitable location. Nevertheless, it has been found effective to place the pocket  20  sufficiently close to the shoulder of a user to provide maximum support, and the necessary tensions  38 ,  39 ,  42  in order to retain the contained article  40  within the pocket  20 . 
         [0082]    Referring to  FIGS. 15 and 16 , hospital scrubs  10  typically have a location of the neck opening  13   a  and its associated collar  16  to bound pocket locations. It has been found effective to position the corner  23   d  as with other embodiments in a range of from about 4 to about 7 inches, and preferably a target of about 6 inches from a shoulder seam  17  or the shoulder edge  17  of a clothing article  10 . Meanwhile, most scrubs  10  are formed of fabrics that are not knit, but tend to drape easily, and are typically oversized for the torso of a user. 
         [0083]    Care should be taken in sizing a pocket  20  for such fabrics in order to provide access, but restraint. Typically, in such embodiments, the opening  30  may be sized closer to the circumference of the contained article  40 . Meanwhile, the return seam  22  may be somewhat longer, thus providing a larger, V-shaped corner  23   a  in which to contain the contained article  40 . 
         [0084]    Referring to  FIGS. 17 and 18 , a T-shirt or other knit outerwear may include a knit rib collar  16 , which may be worn in a U-shaped configuration or a V-shaped configuration. This may affect the suitable location for the pocket  20 . Typically, however, the neck portion  13   a  or collar  16  as well as the shoulder edge  17  and the sleeve seam  15  are all in close proximity. All tend to maintain the tension  38 ,  39 ,  42  and retain the contained article  40 . Again, with knit fabrics, more liberty is available for making the opening  30  smaller than the contained article  40  when the tensions  38 ,  39 ,  42  are at their minimum. Thus, absent urging of force by a user, the contained article  40  will not exit. 
         [0085]    The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its purposes, functions, structures, or operational characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative, and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.