We're still here! Sorry it's been so long since the last one. And thank you to the person who checked up on me. I admit I did step away from Pockets For Women for a while as it was disheartening to see the traffic drop off in such a way. But I've had a refreshing break from it now, and since the pockets problem didn't magically get sorted in my absence, I'll keep going.
Just before summer I heard this wonderful podcast by Alice Loxton putting the historical context into the question "Why Don't Women's Clothes Have Pockets?". Short answer is that they used to, big ones, which would tie on. At a time when women did not have ownership of property, (including a legal right to access to their own children), having a pocket would been a private space where you could hold your most precious belongings. The tie-on pocket had surprising longevity, still around in the late 19th century. However, as fashioned changed and women's clothes became more form fitting, we somehow lost the pockets, whilst men's got integrated. You have designers like Christian Dior saying,
"men have pockets to keep things in, women for decoration.”
Which is the kind of magical thinking which leads to women within living history not being able to have mortgages, or their own bank accounts. So, for me, pockets has always been a feminist issue.
If you want to know more about the pockets throughout history, I would recommend "The Pocket: A Hidden History Of Women's Lives" by Barbara Burman and Ariane Fennetaux, which not only explores the history of pockets, but also the history of women who were unable to write their own stories, but the contents of their pockets can give us a glimpse into their life.
Ok that's all for now. I promise it won't be year before the next one.
