Discovering you've been pickpocketed can make you feel quite a bit like you've been bamboozled, led astray, run amok!
On Reddit, user u/Sir_Slamalot asked the very fine question, "Former pickpockets of Reddit, what changes in clothing fashion made your job harder/easier?" And TBH, I've never been more ready to embrace the fanny pack because of these answers below:
1. "Believe it or not, those ridiculously tight jeans that girls wear have made it easier."
2. "I can pick a watch, but with the advent of cellphones, nobody really wears watches anymore. The same is true for cigarette tricks."
3. "The button on the back pocket for guys is easy, like in cargo shorts or something similar. It's just as easy to get stuff out of their front pockets, but if you were going for the wallet... Well, just don't. Velcro is super simple; buttons are a bitch."
4. "Leggings have made it impossible."
5. "Women's pants where it looks like they have pockets but don't, it just becomes me randomly feeling the side of a women's leg." — u/Gooblygoo68
6. "I am a pickpocket, and I find pouches with peg and loop toggles easy. The trend for metal buckles with the pouch facing the leg did make things difficult. Adding a pouch to the inside of trouser legs going the whole way down makes swords a doddle to wander off with."
7. "The fanny pack made things very difficult for a while; thankfully, it's not very fashionable anymore."
8. "Anyone who is wearing tight clothing or shorts has made it pretty much impossible to steal from. Anyone wearing a hoodie has made it super goddamn easy. "
9. "I know several magicians who use pickpocket skills in their act. They all agree that the small and shallow pockets common in women's pants make pickpocketing easier."
10. "I live in Europe, and during the summer months, the pickpockets come out in full force. One of their tricks/traps is to approach you and try to distract you with a soccer ball being dribbled around you, or in my case, the dude just straight-up came up to me and said he wanted to dance."
11. "I had a pair of trousers once that stopped a guy picking my wallet. The pockets had a narrow opening but were wider on the inside, so I could only pass them through the opening in a certain way."
12. "I worked as a magician that did pickpocketing in my act. No one wears watches anymore; those that do wear plastic Fitbits. Those bands are harder to lift."
13. "Cargo shorts made it soooo easy to snag phones and wallets from my friends. I'd always do it as a party gag." —u/Link_the_Fox
14. "I won't give specifics, but joggers."
15. "The change from cloth to heavy armor. Needed to grind some levels before I could pickpocket again." —u/caliicrook
16. "Chains... Tough guys who like to wear chains are great targets! They're normally too cocky to pay attention to anyone other than who they are talking to, and their chain is normally connected to a wallet."
17. "The wallet chain."
Note: Some answers have been lightly edited for length and/or clarity.