Page 36 - Wallingford Magazine Issue 52 Winter 2025

Reticule
Reticule with chatelaine Reticule Reticule with chatelaine

by Brittany Bartow, Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust volunteer
The desire for more storage space were the norm for women of all Towards the end of the 18th cen-
in women’s clothing isn’t a new classes. They were attached with tury, when women’s silhouettes
one, but rather an ever evolving a ribbon or string around the waist were slimming (think the volumi-
part of fashion, of which we can and underneath outer skirts, but nous skirts of Martha Washington
still see the trends today. The Wall- over foundational slips and petti- trimmed down to the sleek empire
ingford Historic Preservation Trust coats. One or two pockets could waist style of Jane Austen) remov-
owns and maintains two houses in be concealed within the folds of a able pockets were no longer ide-
Wallingford: The Nehemiah Royce dress. Simple slits in the fabric of al for the fashionable woman on
House, built in 1672, and The John- the outer skirt at hip level, would the go. Instead of hidden pockets,
son Mansion built in 1866. The allow the wearer to reach into the women now opted to carry a reti-
women who lived and worked in pocket that aligned with the hole cule bag. Generally the size of the
these houses, and their fashion, in the skirt or dress. This remov- tie-on pocket, the reticule served
have helped shape how modern able part of the wardrobe was able the same purpose: Storage you
women carry personal items on to be cleaned along with other un- could take with you!
the go. der pieces more frequently, while
maintaining the outer skirts and As with most parts of women’s
In the 17th century, tie-on pockets blouses. fashion, what you carried in your

36 Wallingford Magazine - Winter 2025