Palestrina Petal Reticule 18" Doll Clothes Accessory Pattern

Purses have been a standard accessory for men and women alike since the dawn of time, but between the 16th and 17th century, purses all but disappeared. The pocket was introduced in menswear – a much safer way to carry ones valuables as purses were an easy target for highwaymen. About the same time, women started wearing very wide heavy dresses that made it difficult to carry a purse. To accommodate these wider dress styles, their purses were exchanged for of pocket that was worn underneath their clothing. This pocket was a separate accessory that was not sewn into the dress, but tied on at the waist over the stays. At the end of the 18th century, however, there was a sudden and dramatic change in women’s dress styles. The wide stiff dresses that had dominated women’s fashions for nearly 300 years were replaced by trim high waisted dresses made with light flowing fabrics. Pockets were far too bulky to hide underneath this new style of dress, so brought purses back in the form of a reti