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KQED's Forum

It’s Got Pockets! The Complicated History of the Humble Pocket

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2726 Ratings

🗓️ 26 October 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Pockets. They are something you don’t notice, until you don’t have one to stash your phone, wallet, keys, or the random Walgreens receipt. Invented in the 16th century, pockets have had a unique trajectory in fashion. Men’s clothes are full of practical pockets. Women’s clothing, not so much. In her new book “Pockets,” design professor Hannah Carlson explores all the ways this “humble component of dress” reveals how we live. We’ll talk with Carlson about the origins of pockets, what their contents say about us and the gender politics at play in their design. Could you live without a pocket? Guests: Hannah Carlson, senior lecturer of apparel design, Rhode Island School of Design; author, "Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Support for KGBD Podcasts comes from Landmark College, offering a fully online graduate-level

0:06.1

certificate in learning differences in neurodiversity program. Visit landmark.edu slash certificate to learn more.

0:13.9

Support for Forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.

0:21.4

From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,

0:27.7

a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.

0:31.7

When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and

0:40.2

devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only,

0:47.2

May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now at Broadwaysf.com.

0:54.7

From KQED.

0:56.1

From KQED.

1:09.3

I'm Grace Juan in in for Alexis Magical.

1:13.2

Stop for a minute and ask yourself where your phone is.

1:16.6

Chances are you shoved it in your pocket.

1:18.9

And what else is in there?

1:20.3

Gum, a hair clip, a random receipt?

1:22.9

We don't think much about the humble pocket until we don't have one.

1:26.7

Pockets have had a unique trajectory

1:28.0

in fashion, men's clothes are full of practical pockets, women's clothing, not so much. We'll talk to a

1:33.8

fashion historian about the origins of pockets, what their contents say about us, and the gender

1:38.0

politics at play. Could you live without a pocket? That's all coming up next after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Grace Swan, in for Alexis Madrigal. Pockets. You don't really think about them until you don't have one. Take, for example, this letter written by seven-year-old Cameron Gardner to the retailer, Old Navy.

2:12.9

I do not like that the front pockets of the girls' jeans are fake. I want front pockets because I want to put my

2:26.7

hand in them. I also would like to put things in them. Would do you consider making girls jeans with front pockets that are not fake?

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