Titanic is the reason you have pockets, ladies
Attention to the ladies who read DDOT: Next time you reach into your pocket to retrieve that lip balm or change for the vending machine, you'll know it was because of the Titanic that you enjoy such a modern day convenience.
Before the Titanic disaster, women's clothing did not include what today we refer to as pockets. Pre-Titanic, a pocket referred to a bag that a woman might wear fastened around the waist by a belt or band of ribbon. These had gone out of fashion by 1912.
This put First Class passenger Miss Helen Churchill Candee in quite a quandry after the Titanic struck the iceberg. When a steward asked Miss Candee to put on her lifebelt and proceed to the Boat Deck, she picked up the little ivory miniature with the painting of her mother. She wanted to save the heirloom but was afraid she'd dropped it on deck or in the lifeboat. Having no place to store the object, she carried it with her as she left her stateroom.
On the Grand Staircase, Miss Candee found a friend - Edward Kent - and because he had pockets, she entrusted her prized possession to him. Kent died that night, but when his body was later recovered from the sea, the miniature was discovered in his pocket and returned to Miss Candee.
Another First Class passenger, Lady "Lucille" Duff-Gordon, was a women's fashion designer with shops on both sides of the Atlantic. When she heard of her fellow survivor's miniature she realized that as a practical matter a woman's dress should have pockets. Duff-Gordon then became the first designer to introduce pockets in fashions for women.
Before the Titanic disaster, women's clothing did not include what today we refer to as pockets. Pre-Titanic, a pocket referred to a bag that a woman might wear fastened around the waist by a belt or band of ribbon. These had gone out of fashion by 1912.
This put First Class passenger Miss Helen Churchill Candee in quite a quandry after the Titanic struck the iceberg. When a steward asked Miss Candee to put on her lifebelt and proceed to the Boat Deck, she picked up the little ivory miniature with the painting of her mother. She wanted to save the heirloom but was afraid she'd dropped it on deck or in the lifeboat. Having no place to store the object, she carried it with her as she left her stateroom.
On the Grand Staircase, Miss Candee found a friend - Edward Kent - and because he had pockets, she entrusted her prized possession to him. Kent died that night, but when his body was later recovered from the sea, the miniature was discovered in his pocket and returned to Miss Candee.
Another First Class passenger, Lady "Lucille" Duff-Gordon, was a women's fashion designer with shops on both sides of the Atlantic. When she heard of her fellow survivor's miniature she realized that as a practical matter a woman's dress should have pockets. Duff-Gordon then became the first designer to introduce pockets in fashions for women.
posted by Oscar Watcher | 1:09 AM
3 Comments:
Very interesting! Brassieres also were not worn at the time or she could have tucked it in her bosom. Perhaps she had taken off her corset, as well.
jen p.
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A fascinating tidbit, Wade! I enjoy your Titanic trivia, though given the rarity of posts, I hardly think it's accurate to call this Daily Dose of Titanic.
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