Comments on: Why Do Men’s and Women’s Shirts Button on Different Sides?

By: Awesome

Awesome — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:55:26 +0000

NO, you t tt ttt tools! It’s so we can tell who’s gay like Ellen: she has the buttons on the wrong side so she buys men’s shirts.

By: 为什么衬衫的第一个扣眼是横的？ - 读“图”人生

为什么衬衫的第一个扣眼是横的？ - 读“图”人生 — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 03:19:01 +0000

[...] 一是起初男装扣子也是缝在左襟上的，但到了中世纪，为了方便男人右手腰间拔剑，要用左手解开外套扣子，于是扣子被更改到了右襟上。二是当时贵族才会在衣服上缝扣子，女士一般都会让女仆代劳系扣，由于女仆大部分是右撇子，为了方便她们系扣子，女装扣子缝在左襟上。男装的扣子 V.S. 女装的扣子 [...]

By: 为什么衬衫的第一个扣眼是横的？ | 考据癖 – Blog

为什么衬衫的第一个扣眼是横的？ | 考据癖 – Blog — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:59:52 +0000

[...] 一是起初男装扣子也是缝在左襟上的，但到了中世纪，为了方便男人右手腰间拔剑，要用左手解开外套扣子，于是扣子被更改到了右襟上。二是当时贵族才会在衣服上缝扣子，女士一般都会让女仆代劳系扣，由于女仆大部分是右撇子，为了方便她们系扣子，女装扣子缝在左襟上。 [...]

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:29:31 +0000

As far as I can tell, use of multiple button to close a neckline of a garment didn’t become common in European dress until sometime after 1200. When they were introduced widely, they were not only decorative and costly, but some countries had laws limiting them only to the upper classes. In many European painting I have looked at over the period rom the 1300s till about 1900, I see very few examples where women wore shirt like garments that buttoned up the front. Most show women wearing open necked blouse like tops without a front opening, or high necked blouses that fastened in the back. Especially with the advent of the corset, women’s clothing seems to have generally fastened in the back. Whether the fronts were kept clear of buttons for practical reasons having to do with child care or other domestic pursuits, or for purely esthetic reasons I can’t say. But it is probably true that if your clothing fastens in the back, you will need to rely on someone else to help you dress, and in that case the argument that men’s and women’ buttons differed to make each easiest for a right handed dresser (self in the case of men, other in the case of women) makes sense. Since women’s tops that button up the front seem to be relatively recent, the traditions of button placement may have already been standardized from when they were in the back, and never changed.

By: criolle johnny

criolle johnny — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 17:55:30 +0000

Kurt is right, also a man could unbutton his coat and draw his sword at the same time. Women did not carry swords.

By: Trey

Trey — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:26:41 +0000

Kurt and Barrett have great insight..

Even walking on the street side of a woman goes back to historical days when people would empty their chamber pots out the window.. The woman walks closer to the buildings, so she’s shielded by the eaves of the roofs..

By: Ricky

Ricky — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:09:36 +0000

Wow! I have never realized that, I had to go make sure though, by checking my girlfriends button up shirts, but that is weird that they aren't the same,

By: Barrett

Barrett — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:22:05 +0000

Also, men’s jackets button on the right so that when drawing a sword (worn on the left hip) the hilt wouldn’t snag on the seam.

I still don’t know why women’s shirs are different, though.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:53:55 +0000

@Kurt, that's interesting. Why make shirts different for women, though? .-= Andrew´s last blog ..The Boat Shoe: Primer Approved =-.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:09:05 +0000

Armour was fashioned so the left fastened over the right to prevent the strike of a right-handed blade from entering the front seam of armour.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:40:07 +0000

Haha Russell, that’s a funny idea. I’m glad shirt makers have our best interest at heart

By: Tweets that mention Why Do Men’s and Women’s Shirts Button on Different Sides? | Primer -- Topsy.com

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:45:56 +0000

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