A pocket to last

A pocket to last

By Katy England, Fashioning Our World Project Manager

Have you ever wished you had a bigger pocket? Often outfits today, particularly those for women, have very small and impractical pockets. In the 1700s women would have had large pockets, separate from their garments. These would have been worn tied around their waist and hidden underneath layers of clothing, so the beautiful embroidery on this pocket would not have been on show. The pockets would have had a vertical opening, so this could easily be found under all the layers. You can see the vertical opening in the Image 1.

This pocket is made of linen. It is unusual as it has been made from two different pieces of fabric to form the front and back of the pocket. These pieces feature different embroidery, and are slightly different sizes. This suggests that the pocket may have been repurposed from earlier garments. Alternatively it may have originally been two pockets and the decorative front pieces were saved and stitched together to form this one pocket. The pocket dates to the 1700s but the embroidery itself is likely to be earlier than this.