Pockets pondered in “Pockets of Possibilties” in new Galt Museum exhibit

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 A new exhibit at the Galt Museum hopes to answer the question of why women’s clothing doesn’t have any pockets.Kirstan Schamuhn presents Pockets at the Galt Museum, Oct. 17. Photo by Richard Amery
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.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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