The pocket handkerchief or pocket square, as most quality men’s stores call it, is a silk, linen or cotton fabric that is usually from 13 to 18 inches square.
Square in shape as required by a 1785 Royal French Decree. It’s a fashion accessory for adding another element of style to enhance your look and it’s the only reason we have breast pockets on our suits, sport coats, and even overcoats. The pocket square is purely decorative unless a fair damsel starts to cry and then you can put it into service to dry her tears that is if you're not also carrying a handkerchief!
A handkerchief, is not a pocket square, but is something to blow your nose into. After WWII with the invention of antibiotics the classic handkerchief was looked on as un-hygienic, and with the popularity of disposable Kleenex made the handkerchief obsolete, leaving pocket squares as nothing but a fashion accessory.
So if you need a handkerchief chose a quality one of linen or cotton. It should be carried in a pocket and not for public view.
Since the handkerchief is the predecessor to the pocket square there are more details in history below.
The word pocket comes originally from the Germanic “poke” meaning “bag”. It was “pokete” in Old North French and found its way into Middle English as “poket”. It was a small bag carried by a person until tailors started sewing them into garments, and then we got pockets in garments.
Pocket Guide on Pocket Squares
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1. Material
The quality of the fabric is usually a function of the price.
Cotton is a soft white vegetable fiber from the fluffy boll of the shrubby plant (genus Gossypium) of the mallow family. The fiber of these plants surrounding the oil-rich seeds is spun into thread or cloth.
The 14th century word “cotton” is from Middle English “cotoun” Old French “cotton”, from Old Italian “cotone” all which came from the Arabic “qutun” and “qutn”.
Cotton is cool, comfortable, absorbent and durable through many washings. Cotton actually gets stronger with washing. It breathes, holds dye well and feels luxurious.
Linen is a fabric made from fibers obtained from inside the woody stem of the flax plant, a common name for an annual herb of the Linaceae family, especially members of the genus Linum, (Linum usitatissimum).
The word “linen” comes from the Greek “linon” or Latin “linum” meaning the thread of flax.
It’s a coarse weave often with a nubbed surface. Linen fibers are much stronger and more lustrous than cotton. They are very cool and absorbent, but wrinkle very easily, unless blended with manufactured fibers.
Linen is one of the oldest textile fibers and the first vegetable fiber known. Linen fabric dating from 5000 B.C. has been found in Egyptian tombs. Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish priests wore linen to symbolize purity. Brought to Northern Europe by the Romans, it became the chief European textile of the Middle Ages. French Huguenots carried the art of working flax to Ireland, still the major producer of fine linen. Power looms were first used to weave linen in 1812, but many textile inventions were not applicable to linen thread because its inelasticity made it break readily. Thus the expense of linen weaving relative to that of cotton limits its use.
Silk is the forth-oldest fabric after flax (linen), cotton and wool. It's the most fine and strongest natural fiber, but it has poor elasticity and loses its shape easily. It also requires special care in that most silk garments are "dry clean only" and stains are difficult to remove. Silk decomposes at high temperatures (as in irons and dryers) and can fade with prolonged exposure to sunlight.
Silk comes from the fiber silkworms (Bombyx Mori) produce while spinning their cocoons. Most silk is from cultivated worms who eat mulberry leaves, but wild silk, Tussah, is a thicker, shorter fiber from worms in their natural habitat.
2. Edging
The edges of the pocket square should have a roll or slightly raised edge.
FIT:
Compliment, don’t match, your shirt and/or tie with your pocket square. For a very conservative look try plain white, even if it is a little stuffy. There was a brief period such as the early 1940’s when men did match tie and pocket square, but thank goodness we’ve moved on.
There is some school that believes that the tie or jacket and pocket square should contrast in fabric. If you’re wearing a silk tie opt for a linen square, or a tweed jacket is best worn with a heavier more casual square of wool or cashmere. White linen would appear too formal. This theory has some merit, but silk still looks great with any fabric.
Reveal no more than 1 1/2 inches of the pocket square from the top of the pocket.
There are many, many different folds for pocket squares easily found in posts on this site or on the internet!
HISTORY:
Ancient Egyptians carried small squares of linen which could have been used for their personal cleanliness but, some of them were dyed, so the reason must have been aesthetic.
In ancient Greece, the wealthy covered their mouths and noses with perfumed cotton handkerchiefs, a habit that lasted until medieval times, both because bathing wasn’t that common at the time and because there was very little protection from airborne diseases. In ancient Rome, the drop of a handkerchief signaled the start of the gladiatorial games.
During the 15th century, explorers returned from China with the first handkerchiefs – large linen cloths that were incredibly expensive.
Kerchief is from the Old French “couvrechef” meaning “head cover”, which was the Chinese inventor’s original purpose, to keep the sun off their heads as they worked in the fields.
English King, Richard II (January 6, 1367 – February 14, 1400, son of Edward the Black Prince, King June 22, 1377 to September 29, 1399 when he was deposed) has been given some credit for the “invention” of the handkerchief or maybe as the instigator of the popularity of its use.
Richard II’s clerk in the Great Wardrobe recorded, (in Latin) between 1384 and 1386 the presence of "small pieces of linen made to be given to the Lord King for blowing and covering his nose" in his Household Rolls or accounts, which is the first documented use of handkerchiefs.
But by 1395 through 1398, the handkerchief was more common since the clerk recorded the acquisition of "11 portions of linen cloth from Rheims, again for clearing the nose of the king".
With the popularity of snuff in the 16th century, handkerchiefs became a necessity carried for wiping the face or nose. They were squares of linen or silk often edged with lace and also called a “napkin”. "Napkin" is from the 14th century French word "nap(p)e" from the Latin "mappa" meaning cloth.
And historically, white handkerchiefs have been used in place of a white flag to indicate surrender or a flag of truce!
![Image]()
On June 2, 1785 Marie Antoinette had her husband, Louis XVI, sign an edict regulating the size of handkerchiefs. Since handkerchiefs had gotten so large the edit decreed that the length could not exceed their width.
In 1859 Empress Eugenie helped hanky sales by weeping so uncontrollably at a performance of Cinderella that all the women of Paris recognize the necessity of weeping so that they too can display their luxurious hankies.
In 1870 plain white cambric handkerchiefs (linen or cotton from Cambrai, France) were correct for both day and evening. Linen was the choice of the upper classes while working class men used cotton handkerchiefs.
Around 1890 it became fashionable to wear your handkerchief slightly shown from the cuff of the left sleeve, which came from a military style. The gentry would carry lavender-scented handkerchiefs in the cuffs of their coats to protect them from the foul-smelling air of London.
Men’s pocket squares became widely popular in the 1920s, but declined in fashion during the 1960s. They have been back in fashion strongly and today remain a classic accessory. They’ve become more essential as the popularity of neckties diminishes.
![Image]()
The bandana (or bandanna) handkerchief was brought to Europe from India early in the 18th century. It was named from a corruption of the Sanskrit word “bandhna” or “badhnati” meaning “a method of tie dyeing cloth”, and became "bindan" in Old English.
The bandana was popular among the working men because it’s bright colors and patterns didn’t show the dirt, but it was easily washable. By the 1740s American colonists were wearing bandanas. Martha Washington commissioned one from John Hewson, a printmaker recommended by Benjamin Franklin. They became an American sartorial souvenir often printed with portraits of celebrities or politicians.
Red became the primary color for bandanas after the American Civil War. A Rhode Island textile printer hired a Scottish dyer who specialized in "turkey red" and red bandana sales soared!
-- Andy Gilchrist
Photo credit: Photo Melon/Shutterstock; Nicholas Ahonen/Shutterstock; Mehmet Cetin/Shutterstock; 19MANISHA84/Shutterstock
Square in shape as required by a 1785 Royal French Decree. It’s a fashion accessory for adding another element of style to enhance your look and it’s the only reason we have breast pockets on our suits, sport coats, and even overcoats. The pocket square is purely decorative unless a fair damsel starts to cry and then you can put it into service to dry her tears that is if you're not also carrying a handkerchief!
A handkerchief, is not a pocket square, but is something to blow your nose into. After WWII with the invention of antibiotics the classic handkerchief was looked on as un-hygienic, and with the popularity of disposable Kleenex made the handkerchief obsolete, leaving pocket squares as nothing but a fashion accessory.
So if you need a handkerchief chose a quality one of linen or cotton. It should be carried in a pocket and not for public view.
Since the handkerchief is the predecessor to the pocket square there are more details in history below.
The word pocket comes originally from the Germanic “poke” meaning “bag”. It was “pokete” in Old North French and found its way into Middle English as “poket”. It was a small bag carried by a person until tailors started sewing them into garments, and then we got pockets in garments.
Pocket Guide on Pocket Squares
1. Material
The quality of the fabric is usually a function of the price.
Cotton is a soft white vegetable fiber from the fluffy boll of the shrubby plant (genus Gossypium) of the mallow family. The fiber of these plants surrounding the oil-rich seeds is spun into thread or cloth.
The 14th century word “cotton” is from Middle English “cotoun” Old French “cotton”, from Old Italian “cotone” all which came from the Arabic “qutun” and “qutn”.
Cotton is cool, comfortable, absorbent and durable through many washings. Cotton actually gets stronger with washing. It breathes, holds dye well and feels luxurious.
Linen is a fabric made from fibers obtained from inside the woody stem of the flax plant, a common name for an annual herb of the Linaceae family, especially members of the genus Linum, (Linum usitatissimum).
The word “linen” comes from the Greek “linon” or Latin “linum” meaning the thread of flax.
It’s a coarse weave often with a nubbed surface. Linen fibers are much stronger and more lustrous than cotton. They are very cool and absorbent, but wrinkle very easily, unless blended with manufactured fibers.
Linen is one of the oldest textile fibers and the first vegetable fiber known. Linen fabric dating from 5000 B.C. has been found in Egyptian tombs. Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish priests wore linen to symbolize purity. Brought to Northern Europe by the Romans, it became the chief European textile of the Middle Ages. French Huguenots carried the art of working flax to Ireland, still the major producer of fine linen. Power looms were first used to weave linen in 1812, but many textile inventions were not applicable to linen thread because its inelasticity made it break readily. Thus the expense of linen weaving relative to that of cotton limits its use.
Silk is the forth-oldest fabric after flax (linen), cotton and wool. It's the most fine and strongest natural fiber, but it has poor elasticity and loses its shape easily. It also requires special care in that most silk garments are "dry clean only" and stains are difficult to remove. Silk decomposes at high temperatures (as in irons and dryers) and can fade with prolonged exposure to sunlight.
Silk comes from the fiber silkworms (Bombyx Mori) produce while spinning their cocoons. Most silk is from cultivated worms who eat mulberry leaves, but wild silk, Tussah, is a thicker, shorter fiber from worms in their natural habitat.
2. Edging
The edges of the pocket square should have a roll or slightly raised edge.
FIT:
Compliment, don’t match, your shirt and/or tie with your pocket square. For a very conservative look try plain white, even if it is a little stuffy. There was a brief period such as the early 1940’s when men did match tie and pocket square, but thank goodness we’ve moved on.
There is some school that believes that the tie or jacket and pocket square should contrast in fabric. If you’re wearing a silk tie opt for a linen square, or a tweed jacket is best worn with a heavier more casual square of wool or cashmere. White linen would appear too formal. This theory has some merit, but silk still looks great with any fabric.
Reveal no more than 1 1/2 inches of the pocket square from the top of the pocket.
There are many, many different folds for pocket squares easily found in posts on this site or on the internet!
HISTORY:
Ancient Egyptians carried small squares of linen which could have been used for their personal cleanliness but, some of them were dyed, so the reason must have been aesthetic.
In ancient Greece, the wealthy covered their mouths and noses with perfumed cotton handkerchiefs, a habit that lasted until medieval times, both because bathing wasn’t that common at the time and because there was very little protection from airborne diseases. In ancient Rome, the drop of a handkerchief signaled the start of the gladiatorial games.
During the 15th century, explorers returned from China with the first handkerchiefs – large linen cloths that were incredibly expensive.
Kerchief is from the Old French “couvrechef” meaning “head cover”, which was the Chinese inventor’s original purpose, to keep the sun off their heads as they worked in the fields.
English King, Richard II (January 6, 1367 – February 14, 1400, son of Edward the Black Prince, King June 22, 1377 to September 29, 1399 when he was deposed) has been given some credit for the “invention” of the handkerchief or maybe as the instigator of the popularity of its use.
Richard II’s clerk in the Great Wardrobe recorded, (in Latin) between 1384 and 1386 the presence of "small pieces of linen made to be given to the Lord King for blowing and covering his nose" in his Household Rolls or accounts, which is the first documented use of handkerchiefs.
But by 1395 through 1398, the handkerchief was more common since the clerk recorded the acquisition of "11 portions of linen cloth from Rheims, again for clearing the nose of the king".
With the popularity of snuff in the 16th century, handkerchiefs became a necessity carried for wiping the face or nose. They were squares of linen or silk often edged with lace and also called a “napkin”. "Napkin" is from the 14th century French word "nap(p)e" from the Latin "mappa" meaning cloth.
And historically, white handkerchiefs have been used in place of a white flag to indicate surrender or a flag of truce!
On June 2, 1785 Marie Antoinette had her husband, Louis XVI, sign an edict regulating the size of handkerchiefs. Since handkerchiefs had gotten so large the edit decreed that the length could not exceed their width.
In 1859 Empress Eugenie helped hanky sales by weeping so uncontrollably at a performance of Cinderella that all the women of Paris recognize the necessity of weeping so that they too can display their luxurious hankies.
In 1870 plain white cambric handkerchiefs (linen or cotton from Cambrai, France) were correct for both day and evening. Linen was the choice of the upper classes while working class men used cotton handkerchiefs.
Around 1890 it became fashionable to wear your handkerchief slightly shown from the cuff of the left sleeve, which came from a military style. The gentry would carry lavender-scented handkerchiefs in the cuffs of their coats to protect them from the foul-smelling air of London.
Men’s pocket squares became widely popular in the 1920s, but declined in fashion during the 1960s. They have been back in fashion strongly and today remain a classic accessory. They’ve become more essential as the popularity of neckties diminishes.
The bandana (or bandanna) handkerchief was brought to Europe from India early in the 18th century. It was named from a corruption of the Sanskrit word “bandhna” or “badhnati” meaning “a method of tie dyeing cloth”, and became "bindan" in Old English.
The bandana was popular among the working men because it’s bright colors and patterns didn’t show the dirt, but it was easily washable. By the 1740s American colonists were wearing bandanas. Martha Washington commissioned one from John Hewson, a printmaker recommended by Benjamin Franklin. They became an American sartorial souvenir often printed with portraits of celebrities or politicians.
Red became the primary color for bandanas after the American Civil War. A Rhode Island textile printer hired a Scottish dyer who specialized in "turkey red" and red bandana sales soared!
-- Andy Gilchrist
Photo credit: Photo Melon/Shutterstock; Nicholas Ahonen/Shutterstock; Mehmet Cetin/Shutterstock; 19MANISHA84/Shutterstock
