Discussion on Men's and Women's Buttons
December 03, 2019
There are several accounts of the reasons for the opposite direction of men's and women's buttons.
The most agreeable statement is this: the past, especially the Victorian era; those sophisticated upper-class clothes are usually very complicated. Most of the ladies' clothes are worn by the maids, so the buttons are more convenient for the servants to operate. Most men like to dress by themselves, so the buttons are on the right.
This statement sounds reasonable, but it is not without its flaws. This statement means that most women at the time had maids, which was not the case. Some people think that some upper-class people who lead the fashion have chosen the right-to-left button, so in order to follow the trend, women who do not have maids will follow this button direction.
However, this statement ignores a rather important fact: in the past, elite men usually needed servants to help them dress, because their clothes had a lot of buttons, especially before the 19th century; at that time, buttons were rarely used on women's clothing.
Although clothing was not as complicated as men's clothing for men at the time, there was no need to wear a petticoat under the clothes; however, it was wrong to say that men in the upper classes had no servants to dress. So why take care of the maid like that? Also, why did they suddenly change the position of the buttons in the mid-19th century instead of earlier? In the 18th century, many women's buttons were fitted to the right, just like men's. In the first half of the 19th century, this situation began to change. By the second half of the 19th century, women's buttons were completely open on the left.