Category
Costume
Date
1875 - 1900
Materials
Textile
Measurements
153 mm (H)
Order this imageCollection
Snowshill Wade Costume Collection, Gloucestershire
NT 1350599
Summary
A pocket designed to be worn under skirts, made from cream twilled cotton with a part lining of honeysuckle silk tabby.
Full description
In the late 17th and 18th centuries, and well into the 19th century, girls and women of all classes wore detachable pockets under layers of skirts and petticoats rather than wearing clothes with integrated pockets that were a feature of men’s tailoring at the time. Teardrop-shaped like this example, with a front opening and ties for the waist, these pockets were worn singly or in pairs and were reached through side openings in gowns and petticoats. Although designed to be hidden under layers of clothing, tie-on pockets were often decorated. Pockets were useful for carrying personal and practical items such as coins, keys, sewing kits and gloves. The memory of this once essential item of clothing is captured in the well-known children’s nursery rhyme: Lucy Locket lost her pocket, / Kitty Fisher found it; / Not a penny was there in it, / Only ribbon round it.
Provenance
Charles Paget Wade Collection, Snowshill Manor