29/08/2019 Pocket - Wikipedia
Pocket
A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in
an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage,
backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag
or pouch.
Contents
Origins
Types
Examples of pocket designs Patch pocket with topstitching and
See also bar tacking on the back of a pair of
References blue jeans.
Further reading
External links
Origins
Ancient people used leather or cloth
pouches to hold valuables.[1] Ötzi (also
called the "Iceman"), who lived around
3,300 BCE, had a belt with a pouch sewn to
it that contained a cache of useful items: a
scraper, drill, flint flake, bone awl, and a
dried tinder fungus.[2]
In European clothing, fitchets, resembling
modern day pockets, appeared in the 13th
century. Vertical slits were cut in the super
tunic, which did not have any side openings,
to allow access to purse or keys slung from
the girdle of the tunic.[3] According to
18th-century woman's
historian Rebecca Unsworth, it was in the hanging pocket
Pockets hang from belts as 15th- late 15th century that pockets became more
century peasants thresh siligo wheat noticeable.[4] During the 16th century,
in a Tacuinum Sanitatis
pockets increased in popularity and prevalence.[4]
In slightly later European clothing, pockets began by being hung like purses
from a belt, which could be concealed beneath a coat or jerkin to discourage pickpocketing and reached through a slit in
the outer garment.
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29/08/2019 Pocket - Wikipedia
In the 17th century, pockets began to be sewn into men's clothing, but not women's, which continued to be tied on and
hidden under the large skirts popular at the time.[5] This difference between men's and women's pockets continues today
with men's version of clothing of the same size and type having bigger pockets.[6]
The word appears in Middle English as pocket, and is taken from a Norman diminutive of Old French poke, pouque,
modern poche, cf. pouch. The form "poke" is now only used in dialect, or in such proverbial sayings as "a pig in a poke".
Historically, the term "pocket" referred to a pouch worn around the waist by women in the 17th to 19th centuries,
mentioned in the rhyme Lucy Locket.[7]
Types
A watch pocket or fob pocket is a small pocket designed to hold a pocket watch, sometimes found in men's trousers and
waistcoats and in traditional blue jeans.[8] However, due to the decline in popularity of pocket watches, these pockets are
rarely used for their original intended purpose.
A besom pocket or slit pocket is a pocket cut into a garment instead of being sewn on. These pockets often have reinforced
piping along the slit of the pocket, appearing perhaps as an extra piece of fabric or stitching. Besom pockets are found on a
tuxedo jacket or trousers and may be accented with a flap or button closure.
Camp pockets or cargo pockets are pockets which have been sewn to the outside of the garment. They are usually squared
off and are characterized by seaming.[9][10]
A beer pocket is a small pocket within a jacket or vest sized specifically for transporting a bottle of beer. It came into
fashion in the 1910s in select areas of the American midwest, prior to Prohibition, after which it faded into relative
obscurity before experiencing minor revivals in the 1980s and early 2000s.
Examples of pocket designs
In some of the following illustrations, a folded blue handkerchief is included for illustration purposes:
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Patch pocket Patch pocket with Flap pocket Buttoned-flap patch
topstitching pocket with box pleat
"Smile" slit pocket with Welt pocket Stand or single-welt 18th century-style
piping and arrowhead pocket hanging pockets
reinforcements, typical
of Western wear
Parts of a tailored
pocket
See also
Handbag
Wallet
References
1. "A History of Handbags" (http://www.randomhistory.com/2008/10/01_handbag.html). Random History. Retrieved
April 23, 2016.
2. "The Belt and Pouch" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090311083938/http://www.iceman.it/en/node/275). South Tyrol
Museum of Archaeology. Archived from the original (http://www.iceman.it/en/node/275) on March 11, 2009. Retrieved
April 23, 2016.
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29/08/2019 Pocket - Wikipedia
3. Cunnington, C. Willett and Phillis (1969). Handbook of English Medieval Costume. Plays Inc.
4. Unsworth, Rebecca (2017-09-01). "Hands Deep in History: Pockets in Men and Women's Dress in Western Europe,
c. 1480–1630" (http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/cost.2017.0022). Costume. 51 (2): 148–170.
doi:10.3366/cost.2017.0022 (https://doi.org/10.3366%2Fcost.2017.0022). ISSN 0590-8876 (https://www.worldcat.org/i
ssn/0590-8876).
5. "The Sexist, Political History of Pockets" (https://www.racked.com/2016/9/19/12865560/politics-of-pockets-suffragette
s-women). Racked. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
6. Diehm, Jan. "Pockets" (https://pudding.cool/2018/08/pockets/). The Pudding. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
7. "Historic New England: Defining the Past. Shaping the Future" (https://web.archive.org/web/20010629132558/http://s
pnea.org/NEHM/NEWWSpringPage04.htm). Spnea.org. Archived from the original (http://www.spnea.org/NEHM/NE
WWSpringPage04.htm) on 2001-06-29. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
8. Levi Strauss & Co. Unzipped Team (17 April 2014). "Those Oft-Forgotten Pant Parts" (http://www.levistrauss.com/unzi
pped-blog/2014/04/those-oft-forgotten-pant-parts/). Retrieved 2015-11-03.
9. "What is "Camp Pockets" - Definition & Explanation" (http://www.textileglossary.com/terms/camp-pockets.html).
Retrieved December 1, 2011.
10. "Glossary of fashion design terminology at Dress King" (http://www.dressking.com/search/glossary.htm). Retrieved
December 1, 2011.
Further reading
Picken, Mary Brooks (1957). The Fashion Dictionary. Funk and Wagnalls.
"Pockets" (https://web.archive.org/web/20071027131413/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/pockets/in
dex.html). Fashion & Jewellery Features. Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original (http://www.vam.ac.
uk/collections/fashion/features/pockets/index.html) on 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
Different Types of Pocket (http://textileapex.blogspot.com/2014/11/different-pocket-types.html)
External links
BBC - h2g2 - A Very Brief History of the Pocket (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A798159)
18th Century Women's Pockets (http://larsdatter.com/18c/pockets.html)
Pockets at the V&A (https://web.archive.org/web/20110615180925/http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/p/pockets/)
A History of Pockets, Victoria and Albert Museum (http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/history-of-pockets/)
Pockets of History (http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/collections/POCKETS.html)
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