I’m a proud pocket devotee: I refuse to buy clothes without pockets. But what do I put in them? A quick check of my jeans reveals fairly prosaic items: my phone, lip balm, a handkerchief, an old bus ticket – but in a coat I find shells, a pinecone, and a rather decrepit sycamore seed. These are not, in fact, random detritus, but treasure: on walks, my pockets become repositories for precious items my children insist on keeping – then promptly forget about. As a mum, my pockets are essential, practical – but also reminders of beach days and enthralling games. As a writer, I believe our characters’ pockets are full of possibilities, both for revealing personalities, and for vital plot points.
The pocket itself
Does your character actually have pockets? Perhaps surprisingly, the pocket, or pouch, goes back thousands of years: Otzi the ‘Iceman’ found preserved in the South Tyrol Alps had one tied onto his belt. European men’s clothing has had built-in pockets since the Renaissance, while women, from the seventeenth century, had tie-on pockets – until fashionable silhouettes became narrower, meaning reticules became popular.
If your character doesn’t have pockets, how might they feel? In Alix E Harrow’s historical fantasy, The Once and Future Witches, women keep spell ingredients in their pockets, such as herbs, candles, and snakes’ teeth; when pockets become symbols of dissidence and are no longer used for respectable women’s clothing, her heroine, Juniper, is infuriated – not to mention unable to defend herself. Could the lack of a pocket prove vital in your character’s confidence, or ability to overcome obstacles?
Pockets could range from the plain to the elaborate. Kate Eddowes, one of the victims explored in Hallie Rubenhold’s The Five, had pockets made of unbleached calico and bed-ticking, rough materials that would be durable, but potentially uncomfortable. However, wealthier women’s pockets could be elaborately embroidered in silks, and would make valuable gifts. Consider what your characters would decorate their pockets with: their favourite flowers or animals? Their initials? Or, since these were usually tied on beneath skirts to thwart thieves, something they might not want others to see – a secret, or a coded message?
How might your character interact with their pockets? Are they constantly checking them? Do they touch each object in turn, or seek out one in particular? What textures and shapes might reassure them, or remind them of a certain person, place, moment?
Practicality
The final section of The Five is entitled ‘A Life in Objects’: it’s a simple list of everything the murdered women had on their person. Many objects are vital everyday items, including combs, handkerchiefs, matchboxes, and knives. Kate Eddowes’ pockets also contained menstrual rags and a “portion” of a pair of spectacles, a detail I find unbearably poignant. I wonder where Kate got them from, whether they were made for her eyes, and how they were broken.
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About the author: Naomi Kelsey is a guest contributor to The History Quill. Her debut novel, The Burnings, was published by Harper North in 2023, followed by The Darkening Globe in 2025. Her next book, Pale Mistress, will be published in July 2026. She posts about books, history, and the chaos of writing around small children and teaching English on Instagram as @naomikelseybooks and on X as @naomikelsey_ and writes a monthly-ish newsletter on Substack at @naomikelsey.
