What was once exclusive to males or women is now up to interpretation as fashion norms become more flexible. One little feature, however, continues to distinguish men’s and women’s attire, and some historians contend that this is a centuries-old custom that has its roots in gender inequity.
Examine the placket, the strengthened band of fabric where the button meets the buttonhole, where the buttons fall the next time you button your shirt. Now, if you chance to have a clothing from someone of the other gender, check closely and see if you can see the difference.
Usually, men’s buttons are on the right and women’s buttons are on the left.
The peculiar opposite-button design’s precise beginnings have been obscured by time, but academics do have some suggestions.
The maid of a lady
Since the days when affluent women didn’t dress themselves, this has been one of the most frequently accepted explanations. The buttons were positioned on the left to make it easier for the maid to fasten them, as most people were right-handed. Upper-class women frequently employed maids to assist them with getting dressed.
“Like most new technology, buttons were extremely costly when they were invented in the 13th century,” Melanie M. Moore, the founder of the womenswear business, told Today. “Back then, wealthy women’s lady’s maids dressed them, not them. Because most individuals were right-handed, it was simpler for the person on the other side of you to button your dress.
Men, on the other hand, had buttons on the right, which was more sensible for a right-handed person, who typically clothed themselves.
All set for fight
Men’s apparel, according to other experts, was made for combat.
Many men carried weapons in the past, such as pistols or swords, and they required convenient access. Having buttons on the right made it easier to unbutton coats or jackets while freeing up their dominant hand for action since “access to a weapon…practically trumped everything,” design historian Chloe Chapin told Today.
According to Chapin, a Harvard PhD candidate in American studies, “I think it’s important to question which time period we’re talking about,” before continuing. However, many aspects of men’s fashion may generally be linked to the military.
Battlefield functionality was obviously not considered in women’s attire, which is why the left-side buttons persisted.
Twist of masculinity
Chapin proposed an additional notion that women’s attire began to incorporate more masculine aspects around the 1880s.
It was popular for women’s apparel to have a more conventionally masculine appearance. But in many countries, it was against the law to dress like a guy in public, so maybe a different buttoning style verified that you were wearing a woman’s clothing, the historian added.
The disparity in gender
Havelock Ellis, a British sexologist, stated in “Man and Woman: A Study of Secondary and Tertiary Sexual Characters” in 1894 that women’s clothing buttoning from right to left was a sign that they were viewed as less physically strong than males. He maintained that women lacked the “rapidity and precision of movement” and had less motor abilities than men, who, in contrast to women, did not need help getting dressed.
“Button differential”
Despite being inconspicuous for millennia, people are only now beginning to recognize what The Atlantic dubbed the “button differential.”
The newspaper states that it “is a relic of an old tradition that we have ported, rather unthinkingly, into the contemporary world.”
The internet community is taken aback as well.
“I discovered that women’s shirts have buttons on the left side when I was today years old,” one Reddit user writes. “I just discovered that shirt buttons are on the left for women and the right for me,” writes a second. WTF!!!
Others shared their thoughts on the centuries-old custom, which is still influenced by gender inequality, in fashion today.
It seems that centuries ago, women required assistance getting dressed, while men were supposed to take care of themselves. This is the great gender split. One user writes, “We’re still buttoning up outmoded traditions in the modern era.”
As another Redditor puts it, “Zippers too, usually!”
The left-for-women, right-for-men norm is still followed by the majority of garment companies, while some brands are now questioning gendered button placement.
Were you aware that men’s and women’s buttons were positioned differently? After you share this article with your friends, we would love to hear what you think of this shocking discovery!
