Pockets and (female) privacy: the 18th century compared with today

Ariane Fennetaux (2008) has written an interesting article about pocket evolution in female clothing in the 18th century and the intimacy issues around it. The article is a compact source of information and highly useful for me in this essay project. Taking advantage of the research Fennetaux has done, I will now compare the role of pockets in the 18th century with how it is today. The 21st century facts are based on my own experience, for I could not find written information.

In the 18th century inset pockets were widely used in men’s garments, such as jackets. The female version of the pocket was a tie-on pair of pouches (or a single pouch) worn under one’s skirt. This custom was popular amongst women of all ranks and statuses in the UK from the late 17th century onwards, and it survived into the 19th century after which the sewn-in version became common in female clothing as well.


a typical embroided pocket of the 1700's


















Regardless of the ongoing development in female independency at that time, women still lacked privacy even in domestic surroundings. If lucky, a woman might have had a writing desk in which to keep her few private items such as letters and jewellery, but pockets were the best place to keep them out of other people’s reach. Nowadays, anyone can keep things safe in drawers and does not have to carry them about. In addition, in this modern computer society it is possible to secure documents behind passwords. And yet, many items such as mobile phones and wallets are still carried along - by both sexes.

In the 1700’s, people would see symbolic and associated meanings in objects that the modern person finds completely neutral. For example, putting a letter into one’s pocket was at the time a very intimate gesture, which was a way of feeling and showing great affection. Since pockets were so close to the body - on the skin, actually, since underwear was not common - they usually caught the scent of their owner. Furthermore, reaching for a woman’s pocket meant that the hand was to be put under the slits of the skirt and close to her pelvic area. Therefore accessing them was thought very intimate, even when performed by the woman herself. These days, pockets as such are not seen as very intimate. One interesting phenomenon, though, is that sometimes couples can be seen walking in public with one’s hand in another’s back-pocket. This can be seen as interesting evolution in the intimacy aspect of the pocket, comparing to what it was in the 18th century, for this modern custom would most probably have been considered outrageous.


Is not our society just shameless?














The tie-on pockets were usually all hand-made and embroidered by the woman herself. Guiding a young girl in the embroidery of their own pockets was a good way of teaching qualities of a good housewife. By studying a woman’s pockets’ exterior, one could learn quite a lot: the woman’s name from stitched initials, her handicrafts skills, her visual taste and possibly other signals about her character. This type of decoration is not common in the 21st century, and definitely not an educational custom. What one can see today is ornamental stitches on especially pockets of denim wear. This, however, has little to do with the process of creating one’s own pair of pockets in the 1700’s and for the stitching is very rarely unique; it does not really tell much about the person.

Because in the 18th century a woman’s pockets were tied on, they could sometimes drop and get lost. Theft was also practiced, for pockets quite often held valuable items such as money and jewellery. Therefore one could never be sure that their belongings were completely safe, which still has not changed to date. Although nowadays they are bags and wallets that get lost and stolen, not pockets as they are inset. Nicks do reach for pockets as well, though, in pursuit of their contents. But the victims are both men and women, for they carry their belongings in the same fashion.


Bibliography:

a typical embroided pocket of the 1700's. (2011) [Online image]. Available from: < http://rihs.wordpress.com/tag/18th-century/ > [Accessed 31 March 2012].
Fennetaux, A. (2008) Women's Pockets and the Construction of Privacy in the Long Eighteenth Century. Eighteenth Century Fiction, 20 (3) Spring, pp.307-334.
Is not our society just shameless?. (n.d.) [Online image]. Available from: < http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Dk2&sa=N&pwst=1&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=930&tbm=isch&tbnid=ZiyBLj1TLV72DM:&imgrefurl=http://www.123rf.com/photo_11401382_back-shot-of-a-couple-keeping-each-other-s-hand-inside-the-partner-s-back-pocket.html&docid=Uz1vrvBUjYFARM&imgurl=http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/inspirestock/inspirestock1112/inspirestock111200106/11401382-back-shot-of-a-couple-keeping-each-other-s-hand-inside-the-partner-s-back-pocket.jpg&w=1200&h=783&ei=UDd3T4OoNYjY0QXy2diRDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=171&vpy=301&dur=1344&hovh=181&hovw=278&tx=162&ty=111&sig=115043970249455260250&page=1&tbnh=135&tbnw=179&start=0&ndsp=35&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0 > [Accessed 31 March 2012].