When I make blouses, shirts, or men's shirts; I always ask myself the question: So the buttons, which side of the button placket do I put them on?
And yes, there is a convention in the direction and it differs between men and women! Did you notice?
This week, I invite you to dive into the history of the buttonhole so you can always remember which way to place them!
Current direction of placement
The buttoning of men's/women's shirts is reversed.
Men's shirts open to the left. Women's shirts and blouses open to the right; which means that for women, the buttons are on the left, for men on the right.
A bit of history to understand...
To understand this difference, we must go back to the 13th century, the time of the invention of buttons. At that time, only the elites and wealthy bourgeois could afford the luxury of having buttons on their clothes; this is very important for the rest of the explanation...
Indeed, let's start with women... Noble women or those with an important social status in society at the time did not dress themselves. They had a maid to help them get dressed, to put on the different layers of clothing that made up their outfit.
Since the majority of the population was right-handed, it was easier for maids to close a shirt with the buttons located on the right when they were facing their mistress.
On the other hand, men having simpler outfits to put on alone, they only involved their servant at the end of dressing. Men therefore buttoned their own outfits, with the pretty buttons placed on the right and the buttonholes sewn on the left. The fact that the servant was right-handed had no influence. Moreover, noble men of the time wore swords and it was obvious that they had to keep their hand free at all times to be able to draw their weapon without the shirt hindering the movement. So it was the left hand's task to quickly unbutton a jacket that would have restricted their movements. This is apparently easier to do if the left flap of the garment overlaps the right flap.
Over the centuries, designers have appropriated this clothing tradition, passed down from generation to generation, even though today the vast majority of women dress themselves and men no longer carry swords.
And what about the flies, is it the same explanation?
Not quite!
It's a much more recent story since trousers are a much more contemporary piece of women's wardrobe... we had to wait for the "liberation" of minds and morals but also the invention of the zipper. Indeed, the fly was originally mainly useful for men to relieve themselves without completely removing their trousers, but for women,... it had no use. Therefore, the first women's trousers did not have a fly but were closed only with a zipper placed on the left.
And for men, the fly opens on the right, simply to allow men to relieve themselves more easily in the restroom! Apparently, it's easier this way for gentlemen... we will leave it to them to judge for themselves.
At the end of World War II, women demanded the right to wear pants for all and the famous American jeans! To distinguish female models from male models and to keep the distinctive look of jeans, the fly was then placed on the left on female models. QED!
Since then, this stylistic convention has lost its strength, and it is now increasingly common to find women's jeans with the opening on the right and vice versa for men.
I hope you enjoyed this little moment of history!
Get your needles ready to no longer get the buttoning direction wrong!
