A new exhibit at the Galt Museum hopes to answer the question of why women’s clothing doesn’t have any pockets.
The new exhibit, “Pockets of Possibilities,” opens Oct. 17.
“Women’s clothing did have pockets in the early twentieth century and latte nineteenth,” observed guest curator Kirstan Schamuhn, who drew much many of the pieces from the exhibit from the Galt Museum’s archives.
She will be giving an online presentation about pockets and how women‘s clothing styles have changed on Oct. 14 at 2 p.m..
“I’ve always been curious about why that is, so this this seemed like the perfect time to do it,” Schamuhn said, noting the lack of pockets is a relatively new phenomenon that arose, simply to ideas of style.
“ Pockets became smaller and they eventually just removed them as styles became slimmer,” she said, noting there is a long history of pockets in women’s clothing, which the exhibit also examines.
“ Blackfoot women had pockets in their clothes, so we’ve also explored the Blackfoot perspective,” she continued.
Most of the items come from the Galt museum collection, though she also borrows a few from the Esplanade Museum in Medicine Hat and some of the Blackfoot pieces.
The exhibit explores how pockets became symbols of independence for women.
The exhibit runs at the Galt Museum Oct. 17-Feb. 14, 2021.
