RISD Professor Featured As a National Expert on Pockets

RISD Professor Featured As a National Expert on Pockets

On Sunday, CBS News took a look at the “500-Year History of the Pocket” — and Rhode Island School of Design professor Hannah Carlson was featured as an expert.

“Pockets hold a fascinating history, and if you dig down deeply enough, you may discover how, over the course of centuries, the humble pocket has carried the secrets and desires of men (and, eventually, women),” said CBS Sunday Morning. “Correspondent Faith Salie looks at how this fashionable clothing component continues to evolve.”

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RISD’s Carlson, who teaches in the Theory and History of Art and Design and Apparel Design departments, recently wrote the soon-to-be published The Pockets Book: Privacy, Poise and Privilege. 

“As a whole, I think pockets tell us a lot about the human condition,” said Carlson. “The sense of ‘are you prepared for the world’ is indicated by what you have in your pockets — so pockets become a metaphor for our thinking, our anxieties, our beliefs.”

Carson gives a look into the history of the pocket — to where we are today. 

“Pocket comes from the old anglo-normal word ‘poke’ with means ‘bag’ and ‘et’ the diminutive — tailors began to put them into men’s hose — the big, pumpkin-like shaped things that Henry VIII wears — that’s the first pocket,” she said. 

“By the 17th century, [women] get what are essentially “tie-on” pockets — pocket that are flat to the hip, which you would wear under your skirt, and you would reach your pocket though a slit, so you could access them,” she added.