Definitive : The Wallet, a Hip Fashion

Although it’s with you wherever you go, and you’d only surrender it to someone over the threat of injury, you’ve probably not given much thought to your wallet, just the items it holds.

Whether you carry a tri- or dual-fold, whether it’s calfskin, snake or eel skin, it’s all a matter of preference.

Some people like the convenience of a wallet that opens with countless plastic windows to show a clerk their driver’s license when writing a check, or to show off a child’s first school picture. Others like the privacy of one where license, credit cards and photographs are discretely tucked away.

Until the first wallet appeared in Europe early in the 17th Century, men, along with women and children, carried purses to cart around money and belongings. The better off one was financially, the fancier the purse. Successful businessmen were often seen with velvet and silk pouches hanging from their belts.

However, this flaunting of wealth created the ignoble profession of “cutpursing,” or cruising the financial districts with a razor and surreptitiously cutting the purse strings and taking off with the contents.

To control the crime wave, pockets were introduced into men’s breeches to hide purses. In order to fit, purses became smaller, and to attract less attention, they became plain, until they evolved into the understated leather billfold we have today.

Women continued to carry purses that coordinated with their outfits. However, their husbands often made sure they had only a small amount of coins inside in case they were nabbed by a cutpurse.

After a short time, the cutpurses realized who was carrying all the cash, and they began retraining as pickpockets.