{{Short description|Small compartment in clothing}} {{About||the digital application and service|Pocket (service)|other uses}} [[File:Jeans pocket back.jpg|right|thumb|Patch pocket with topstitching and bar tacking on the back of a pair of blue jeans.]] A '''pocket''' is a small bag- or envelope-shaped compartment that is either sewn into or attached to clothing, designed for carrying small items. Pockets are also found on luggage, backpacks, and similar containers. Historically, the term could also refer to a separate pouch or small bag.
==Origins== [[File:Tacuinum Sanitatis-threshing.jpg|thumb|left|255 px|Pockets hang from belts as 15th-century peasants thresh siligo wheat in a ''Tacuinum Sanitatis'']] thumb|upright|18th-century woman's hanging pocket Ancient civilizations used leather or cloth pouches to store valuables.<ref name="random-history">{{cite web |url= http://www.randomhistory.com/2008/10/01_handbag.html |title= A History of Handbags |website= Random History |access-date= April 23, 2016 }}</ref> The Copper Age mummy known as Ötzi (also called the "Iceman"), who lived around 3,300 BCE, wore a belt with a sewn-on pouch containing tools and materials such as a scraper, drill, flint flake, bone awl, and dried tinder fungus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iceman.it/en/node/275 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311083938/http://www.iceman.it/en/node/275 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 11, 2009 |title=The Belt and Pouch |publisher=South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology |access-date=April 23, 2016 }}</ref>
In medieval Europe, early pocket-like openings called fitchets appeared in the 13th century. These vertical slits, cut into the outer tunic, allowed access to a purse or keys suspended from the girdle beneath.<ref>{{Cite book | last1=Cunnington | first1=C. Willett | author-link1=Cecil Willett Cunnington | last2=Cunnington | first2=Phillis | author-link2=Phillis Emily Cunnington | year=1969 | title=Handbook of English Medieval Costume | publisher=Plays Inc}}</ref> Historian Rebecca Unsworth notes that pockets became more visible in the late 15th century,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Unsworth|first=Rebecca|date=2017-09-01|title=Hands Deep in History: Pockets in Men and Women's Dress in Western Europe, c. 1480–1630|journal=Costume|volume=51|issue=2|pages=148–170|doi=10.3366/cost.2017.0022|issn=0590-8876|doi-access=free}}</ref> and their use spread widely in the 16th century.<ref name=":0" />
Later, pockets were often worn like purses on a belt, concealed under a coat or jerkin to deter pickpocketing, with access through a slit in the outer garment.
By the 17th century, pockets were sewn into men's clothing, while women's remained as separate tie-on pouches hidden beneath skirts.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Sexist, Political History of Pockets|url=https://www.racked.com/2016/9/19/12865560/politics-of-pockets-suffragettes-women|access-date=15 March 2018|work=Racked|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313162205/https://www.racked.com/2016/9/19/12865560/politics-of-pockets-suffragettes-women|archive-date=13 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Victoria and Albert Museum|first=Online Museum|date=2012-09-17|title=Wearing Pockets|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/history-of-pockets/|access-date=2021-01-25|website=www.vam.ac.uk}}</ref> The word pocket entered Middle English from a Norman diminutive of the Old French ''poke'' or ''pouque'', related to modern ''poche and the English word'' pouch. The form "poke" is now only used in dialect, or in such proverbial sayings as "a pig in a poke".
In the 17th to 19th centuries, women's tie-on pockets—mentioned in the rhyme ''Lucy Locket—often carried everyday tools like scissors, pins, needles, and keys.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spnea.org/NEHM/NEWWSpringPage04.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010629132558/http://spnea.org/NEHM/NEWWSpringPage04.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2001-06-29 |title=Historic New England: Defining the Past. Shaping the Future |publisher=Spnea.org |access-date=2009-08-20 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Weissman, Judith Reiter.|title=Labors of love : America's textiles and needlework, 1650-1930|date=1994|publisher=Wings Books|others=Lavitt, Wendy.|isbn=0-517-10136-X|location=New York|oclc=29315818}}</ref>{{Rp|113}}
== Gender differences == {{Further|Trousers as women's clothing#Pockets}} In modern fashion, men's clothing usually includes pockets, whereas women's clothing often has smaller or even fake ones, sometimes called Potemkin pockets after the concept of a Potemkin village. A 2018 study by the Pudding found that fewer than half of women's front pockets could fit a thin wallet, let alone a phone or keys.<ref>{{cite news |title=Women are big losers in the politics of pockets |url=https://www.ft.com/content/58904cf6-198b-4a70-abee-c2c821a4b318 |access-date=10 November 2022 |publisher=Financial Times |date=6 November 2022}}</ref>
==Types== A watch pocket or '''fob pocket''' is a small compartment, originally for holding a pocket watch.<ref> {{cite book |last1 = Cresswell |first1 = Julia |date = 22 July 2021 |chapter = fob |title = Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3HA3EAAAQBAJ |series = Oxford Quick Reference |edition = 3rd |publication-place = Oxford |publisher = Oxford University Press |page = 519 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3HA3EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT519 |isbn = 9780192639370 |access-date = 1 March 2026 |quote = In the mid 17th century a fob was a small pocket in the waistband of a pair of breeches, for carrying a watch or other valuables. }} </ref> Fob pockets can feature in men's trousers, waistcoats, and traditional blue jeans.<ref>{{cite web |title=Those Oft-Forgotten Pant Parts|url=http://www.levistrauss.com/unzipped-blog/2014/04/those-oft-forgotten-pant-parts/|author=Levi Strauss & Co. Unzipped Team |date=17 April 2014 |access-date=2015-11-03}}</ref> With the decline in pocket-watch use, people have often repurposed these pockets for other small items.
A '''besom pocket''' (or slit pocket) is set into the garment rather than sewn on top. The pocket opening is reinforced—often with an extra strip of fabric or decorative stitching—and may be secured with a flap or button. Besom pockets are common on tuxedo jackets and trousers.
'''Camp pocket'''s (or cargo pockets) are sewn onto the outside of the garment; they are typically square or rectangular with visible seams.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.textileglossary.com/terms/camp-pockets.html | title =What is "Camp Pockets" - Definition & Explanation | access-date =December 1, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dressking.com/search/glossary.htm | title =Glossary of fashion design terminology at Dress King | access-date=December 1, 2011}}</ref> They are common on utilitarian clothing and outdoor gear.
A '''beer pocket''' is a small compartment within a jacket or vest {{en dash}} sized to hold a bottle of beer. It was popular in some areas of the American Midwest during the 1910s, before Prohibition (1920 to 1933) caused it to fade from fashion. The style saw minor revivals in the 1980s and early 2000s.{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}}
===Examples of pocket designs=== In some of the following illustrations, a folded blue handkerchief is included for illustration purposes: <gallery mode="packed" heights="150px"> 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 piping and arrowhead reinforcements, typical of Western wear File:Bound pocket.png|Double-jetted pocket File:Stand pocket.png|Stand or single-welt pocket </gallery> <gallery mode="packed" heights="120px"> File:Hosentaschen vorne 02.svg|Slant-front or slash pockets<ref>https://www.heddels.com/2019/06/types-pockets-pocket-dictionary/</ref> File:Hosentaschen vorne 01.svg|Curved inset pockets, with a coin- or watch-pocket on the right front pocket<ref>https://www.heddels.com/2019/06/types-pockets-pocket-dictionary/</ref> File:EighteenthCenturyPocketsSwaledaleMuseumReethEngland.jpg|18th century-style hanging pockets File:Tailored flap pocket with labels.JPG|Parts of a tailored pocket </gallery>
==See also== * Handbag * Pocket square *Reticule * Wallet
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book|last=Picken|first=Mary Brooks|author-link=Mary Brooks Picken|title=The Fashion Dictionary|publisher=Funk and Wagnalls|year=1957}} * {{cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Hannah |title=Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close |date=2023 |publisher=Algonquin Books |location=New York |isbn=978-1643751542}} * {{cite web|publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/pockets/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027131413/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/pockets/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-10-27 |title=Pockets |work=Fashion & Jewellery Features |access-date=2009-11-17 }} * [http://textileapex.blogspot.com/2014/11/different-pocket-types.html Different Types of Pocket]
==External links== {{Commons category|Pockets|lcfirst=yes}} * [https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A798159 BBC - h2g2 - A Very Brief History of the Pocket] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110819202953/http://larsdatter.com/18c/pockets.html 18th Century Women's Pockets] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110615180925/http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/p/pockets/ Pockets at the V&A] *[http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/history-of-pockets/ A History of Pockets, Victoria and Albert Museum] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100918132003/http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/collections/POCKETS.html Pockets of History]
{{Clothing materials and parts}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Parts of clothing