- Mar 9, 2011
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While men's clothing has the buttons on the right?
There are many answers to this question, depending on who you ask. One answer is that women were traditionally dressed by a servant, which made it easier for someone standing across from you to button your dress.
Another answer was that that historically women tend to hold babies and breastfeed them in their left arm, so that their right hand could be used to open and close their blouse.
Another answer was that men's shirt buttons were placed on the right to make dueling easier, reflecting a time when men fought and women were expected to stay at home with their children. It helped men get to their weapon easier because it was more convenient and quicker to use their left hand for unbuttoning.
Another theory was women were expected to ride sidesaddle, and having the buttons on the left stopped the wind getting into their shirts as they rode.
Another theory was that button placement was a way to distinguish between men's and women's clothing.
Another theory was that French leader Napoleon Bonaparte getting sick of women bullying him for posing with his hand between the buttons of his shirt, and he ordered them to stop copying the pose by declaring that women's shirts be buttoned on the opposite side.
Another theory presented by the 19th century sexologist Havelock Ellis was that the fact that women’s clothing buttoned opposite of men’s was a sign of inferiority. By buttoning their clothing on the left, women would “seem inferior to men” in “strength and in rapidity and precision of movement.”
Or it was just a way for tailors to create two markets out of one.
Or maybe we just don't know.
There are many answers to this question, depending on who you ask. One answer is that women were traditionally dressed by a servant, which made it easier for someone standing across from you to button your dress.
Another answer was that that historically women tend to hold babies and breastfeed them in their left arm, so that their right hand could be used to open and close their blouse.
Another answer was that men's shirt buttons were placed on the right to make dueling easier, reflecting a time when men fought and women were expected to stay at home with their children. It helped men get to their weapon easier because it was more convenient and quicker to use their left hand for unbuttoning.
Another theory was women were expected to ride sidesaddle, and having the buttons on the left stopped the wind getting into their shirts as they rode.
Another theory was that button placement was a way to distinguish between men's and women's clothing.
Another theory was that French leader Napoleon Bonaparte getting sick of women bullying him for posing with his hand between the buttons of his shirt, and he ordered them to stop copying the pose by declaring that women's shirts be buttoned on the opposite side.
Another theory presented by the 19th century sexologist Havelock Ellis was that the fact that women’s clothing buttoned opposite of men’s was a sign of inferiority. By buttoning their clothing on the left, women would “seem inferior to men” in “strength and in rapidity and precision of movement.”
Or it was just a way for tailors to create two markets out of one.
Or maybe we just don't know.
