Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close
by Hannah Carlson
Buy on AmazonA fascinating and surprising social and design history of the sewn-in pocket, from the mid-fifteen hundreds up to today that uncovers what pockets reveal about us, our place in society, and how we move through the world. Who is allowed pockets and why? Why is it that men's clothes are full of pockets while women's have so few? How is it that putting your hands in them can be seen as a sign of laziness, arrogance, confidence, or perversion? Throughout the medieval era, the purse was an almost universal dress feature carried by men and women alike.…
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"In Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close, Hannah Carlson traces the cultural impact of pockets, from medieval Europe to Twitter hashtags. They might sound like a historical footnote, but to Carlson, pockets function as markers of class, industry, leisure and even gender. Above all, she argues, they offer privacy – increasingly precious in the surveillance age – and a deeply personal glimpse of what you carry with you. This book will give you fresh appreciation for that pocket in your coat (or convince you to make one)."
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