Pockets! And Why Women Don’t Have Them​

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Ladies, do you ever feel frustrated by the lack of pockets in your clothes? Gentlemen, have you ever heard a woman friend complain about her pockets or been asked to stow a phone or a wallet for a companion? This phenomenon isn’t new. Since the introduction of the three-piece suit in the seventeenth century, men have had a near monopoly on pockets. Tune in this week to learn more about the origin of the pocket in western dress and to consider why women’s pocket game is so limited.

Host: Samantha

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Further Reading
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Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women c. 1560-1620 (Macmillan, 1985).

Hannah Carlson, Pockets an Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close (Algonquin Books, 2023).

Jan Diehm and Amber Thomas, “Someone Clever Once Said Women Were Not Allowed Pockets,” The Pudding (2018).

"Joan, daughter of Edward III", Westminster Abbey.

"Make your own tie-on pockets", Victoria & Albert Museum.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Dress of Women: A Critical Introduction to the Symbolism and Sociology of Clothing, eds Michael Hill and Mary Jo Deegan (Praeger, 2001).

Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com)