Watch Out for My Scissors of Extreme Justice...

I can't take it anymore. This has been bothering me for too long and now, finally, I have to speak out. Please, please, please, please cut the stitch on your kick pleats.

You're probably thinking, huh? (if you're nodding sagely, you're my new best friend), and I know, it's weird, but this problem has become so prevalent that I have to say something before I snap and start running around with tiny scissors, holding people down and forcibly snipping any sewn pleat that I see.

Sometimes, after a piece of clothing is finished, the manufacturer puts a few holding stitches in a few choice places to make sure things don't get crumpled, bent, torn or lost. These stitches stay in place until the item is bought and then the purchaser is expected to remove them. Now it's possible that the occasional clothing store removes the stitches before selling, but I worked in one and we never did, and most of the clothes I buy are still stitched.

There are three places (that spring to mind) where you might find stitches of this nature: pocket flaps (which some people leave sewn to improve the line of their outfit, but if there is a full pocket there than you don't have to shove your change through the side of the flap, between the stitches), extra buttons (sometimes they're sewn into the underside of a shirt or jacket, but if you think you might lose them, than this is probably a good place to keep them) and kick pleats (absolutely no excuse not to snip these).

On a skirt or jacket there is often a pleat or slit (apparently called a 'back slit', not as snappy as 'kick pleat' is it?) that is designed to add ease for walking or bending. Unlike pockets and buttons, if you leave a kick pleat or slit sewn it's really obvious. It gaps with every step and it fails to give the ease that is its purpose, so the item is often too tight to walk comfortably in.

Every where I go in the city I see women (and men) committing this fashion faux-pas. It's not just the young and uncaring, I see grown women in business suits and heels shuffling awkwardly from the knees down with their skirt riding up their thighs because it never occurred to them that maybe something isn't quite right. It just astounds me that someone who puts such care into their appearance wouldn't know that a skirt like that almost inevitably has a sewn kick pleat. It's even worse in the winter when, on campus especially, I'm surrounded by pea coats and fitted wool jackets with ridiculous looking gaps at the back.

So if you're one of the many people who never knew that not all the stitches on your clothing are necessarily supposed to stay there, go check all your coats and skirts and dresses and make sure you don't have any gappy kick pleats (and while you're at it you might want to have a look at those pockets too).

If you're one of the few who knew about this and is always sure to check and snip, than good for you, you've probably never noticed how prevalent a problem this is, so go tell a friend and tell her to tell her friends too.

And, finally, if you're one of the other people like me who've become – perhaps slightly unhealthily – obsessed with this, I hear ya, and I feel your pain.