A pocket is a

bag A bag, also known regionally as a sack, is a common tool in the form of a floppy container, typically made of cloth, leather, bamboo, paper, or plastic. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earliest bags being lengths of animal s ...

- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to

luggage Baggage, or luggage, consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transport, transit. A modern tourist, traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, sma ...

, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag or pouch.

Origins

Ancient people used leather or cloth pouches to hold valuables.

Ötzi Ötzi, also called The Iceman, is the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Ötzi's remains were discovered on 19 September 1991, in the Ötztal Alps (hence the nickname "Ötzi", ) at the Austria–Italy border. He i ...

(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. 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. According to historian Rebecca Unsworth, it was in the late 15th century that pockets became more noticeable. During the 16th century, pockets increased in popularity and prevalence. In slightly later European clothing, pockets began by being hung like purses from a belt, which could be concealed beneath a

coat A coat is typically an outer garment for the upper body, worn by any gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners (AKA velcro), ...

or jerkin to discourage pickpocketing and reached through a slit in the outer garment. 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. The word appears in

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

as ''pocket'', and is taken from a Norman diminutive of

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th 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''. In these pockets, women would carry items needed in their daily lives, such as scissors, pins and needles, and keys. In more modern clothing, while men's clothes generally have pockets, Trousers as women's clothing, those designed to be worn by women often do not - and sometimes have what are called Potemkin pockets (from Potemkin village), a fake slit sewn shut. If there are pockets they are often much smaller than in men's clothes. Journalists at the Pudding found less than half of women’s front pockets could fit a thin wallet, let alone a phone and keys.

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. 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 Within industry, piping is a system of pipes used to convey fluids (liquids and gases) from one location to another. The engineering discipline of piping design studies the efficient transport of fluid. Industrial process piping (and accomp ...

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. A beer pocket is a small pocket within a jacket or vest sized specifically for transporting a bottle of

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

. It came into fashion in the 1910s in select areas of the

American midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern c ...

, prior to

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, 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: File:Patch pocket.png, Patch pocket with pocket square File:Patch pocket topstitching.png, Patch pocket with topstitching File:J patch pocket.png, J patch pocket File:Flap pocket.png, Flap pocket File:Buttoned flap box pleat pocket.png, Buttoned-flap patch pocket with box pleat File:Side seam pocket.png, Sideseam pocket File:Smile pocket with piping.png, "Smile" slit pocket with

and arrowhead reinforcements, typical of Western wear File:Bound pocket.png, Double-jetted pocket File:Stand pocket.png, Stand or single-welt pocket File:Hosentaschen vorne 02.svg, Slant-front or slash pockets File:Hosentaschen vorne 01.svg, Curved inset pockets, with a coin or watch pocket on right front pockethttps://www.heddels.com/2019/06/types-pockets-pocket-dictionary/ File:EighteenthCenturyPocketsSwaledaleMuseumReethEngland.jpg, 18th century-style hanging pockets File:Tailored flap pocket with labels.JPG, Parts of a tailored pocket

References

External links

BBC - h2g2 - A Very Brief History of the PocketPockets at the V&AA History of Pockets, Victoria and Albert Museum
{{Authority control Parts of clothing

Origins

Types

Examples of pocket designs

See also

References

Further reading

External links