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The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women's Lives, 1660-1900

by Barbara Burman

An everyday accessory as evidence of women’s history

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Paperback New English

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Awards & Recognition

  • Editorial selection

    A New York Times Best Art Book of 2019

    Named a New York Times Best Art Book of 2019.

AlbakiReads Editorial

An everyday accessory as evidence of women’s history

Focusing on tie-on pockets used between 1660 and 1900, this study treats a small item of dress as a record of women’s daily lives. Barbara Burman connects pockets’ material presence to questions of gender, examining how women across social classes used them in relation to consumption, sociability, movement, privacy, and self-definition. The scope extends from duchesses and country gentry to prostitutes and washerwomen, keeping class differences visible while tracing the practical and personal roles these accessories could hold. Positioned at the intersection of fashion history and social history, the book uses clothing to bring domestic routines and public navigation into view.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in dress and accessory history
  • Students of women’s social history and material culture
  • Those exploring how everyday objects reflect class and gender

Themes

Women’s historyFashion and accessoriesMaterial cultureClassPrivacy and mobility

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

A New York Times Best Art Book of 2019

"A riveting book . . . few stones are left unturned."--Roberta Smith's "Top Art Books of 2019," The New York Times

This fascinating and enlightening study of the tie-on pocket combines materiality and gender to provide new insight into the social history of women's everyday lives--from duchesses and country gentry to prostitutes and washerwomen--and to explore their consumption practices, sociability, mobility, privacy, and identity. A wealth of evidence reveals unexpected facets of the past, bringing women's stories into intimate focus.

"What particularly interests Burman and Fennetaux is the way in which women of all classes have historically used these tie-on pockets as a supplementary body part to help them negotiate their way through a world that was not built to suit them."--Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian



"A brilliant book."--Ulinka Rublack, Times Literary Supplement
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