The History of Pockets

The History of Pockets 

By: Audrey Cooper

With the weather changing to cooler temperatures, everyone is making the seasonal switch from summer shorts to winter coats. Reaching into the pockets of those jackets, old memories are recovered through the discovery of an old receipt or a box of matches from a favorite restaurant. 

Believe it or not, pockets have over five hundred years of history, with the first historical awareness of pockets dating back to 1540 in King Henry VIII of England’s wardrobe account.

The word pocket derives from the old French word “poke,” meaning pouch, which made sense with pockets having the appearance of a small pouch or fanny pack that tied around the waist or belt. These early-version pockets were hidden under the clothing in order to keep items safe and out of reach of thieves. Women’s skirts were often created with built-in slits for easy access to their pockets. For men, pockets began being sewn into clothes well into the 17th century, though women would not enjoy this luxury until much later. 

With the emergence of pockets also came items that were scaled for pocket use. The first scaled item introduced was the handgun in the 16th century for men to have easy accessibility to their guns. 

In the early 1800s, everything changed. The Victorian era introduced slim skirts and tiny waists, and women’s pockets became much smaller and practically useless. Very small handbags that were meant to be attached to a belt or pinned against clothes became the new form of pockets for women (hence the word pocket-book). From there, purses took off and pockets disappeared in women’s clothing. 

In the 1920s, with the advent of the women’s suffrage movement, women co-opted menswear styles for themselves and pockets re-emerged. Pockets at the time moved towards form over function featuring shallow, but stylish nonetheless, pockets. As jeans emerged as a popular style in the later 1900s, durable, everyday pockets became the norm.

As men’s suiting evolved, pockets did as well, coming in a variety of different shapes and sizes with a range of different functions such as the ticket pocket, coin pocket, and watch pocket. These pockets also altered the way the suit looked, making a tailored suit appear slim or more round. 

With such a rich history, pockets are sure to never go away. There is no question that pockets are practical, and in some cases even essential, but pockets also offer a sense of casual mystery.

What is in your pocket right now? 

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