Gallery

First recorded in about 1660, pockets are the precursor to the handbag. Women’s pockets were laden with connotations: social status, sexual conduct etc, and consequently, they also tell the story of women’s lives and issues over 300 years. Extended from 2022 into 2023, the lower costume galleries explore these stories and the subsequent arrival of the handbag, or reticules as they were originally called. The everyday bags that hold your life, the tiny jewel-like bag that shows your status, the unusual practical bags designed for a very specific job and the designer bag which you expect everyone to recognise. Then today, do we still need and use handbags and what is their future?