What to do with the hands?

Bags and pouches, worn at the waist in the Middle Ages, gradually were moved under the top layers of clothing to protect them from theft. As the centuries passed and fashions changed, pouches hidden in the folds of clothing became an integral part of ... men's outfits - as pockets. As the more mobile part of society, men sometimes had many of them - varying in depth and size to accommodate different types of content.

Women had to cope differently as their outfits, both formal and casual, had no or very few pockets (sometimes purely decorative). In the 18th century, the small handbag called a reticule, appeared, the great-grandmother of all handbags as we know them. It was a response to the Empire style of dress which was in fashion that time. It was narrow, close to the body and unable to hide anything in its folds. The reticule became indispensable for two important reasons: it stored essential items when a lady left the house, and it answered the ageless human need to "do something with your hands".

It wasn't until the 1920s, when women liberated themselves from corsets, that dresses with large pockets began to appear. Satisfied ladies could finally walk around with their hands in their pockets, but that's another story...