Saturday, January 28, 2023

JUST WONDERING -- WHY DO WOMEN AND MEN BUTTON THEIR TOPS DIFFERENTLY?


 Hello, friends!  Hope you are enjoying your Saturday.  I have been fighting a stomach virus for the last three days, but I am feeling much better this morning.  Hope I've seen the last of it.

Today I am starting a new series called "Just Wondering."  I realized the other day that there are a lot of things I wonder about. I thought, "I'll bet other people wonder about these things too."  So I thought I would do this series -- at least for awhile.  Please let me know if there is anything you are wondering about and I will try to find out for you.  Today I'm going to begin with something that hit me the other day.  Joe had a bunch of sweaters he didn't want any more.  They fit me, so I took them to wear around the house.  They button the opposite to the way I am used to and that made me wonder about why this is.  So here is the answer.

Look at men's and women's shirts.  Women's have buttons on the left side and buttonholes on the right.  Men's have buttons on the right side and buttonholes on the left.  The reason is historical.  

Buttons were invented in the 13th century and only wealthy people could afford them.  It was new technology (imagine that).  Before then clothes were pulled over the head and held together with cords or sashes.

Back then wealthy women did not dress themselves.  They had a lady's maid to do this.  Since most people were right- handed, it made it easier for someone standing across from you to button your dress if the buttons were on the left.  The tradition stuck and so we have this today.

As for men's shirts, there are several theories as to why the buttons are on the right side.  Most people think that this dates back to the military.  Again, because most people are right-handed, and access to your weapon was paramount, a firearm tucked into your shirt or worn under your jacket would be easier to reach from the dominant side.

An interesting note from history:  In the 1880s it was fashionable for women's clothing to look masculine.  But it was illegal in many places for women to wear men's clothing in public.  So having the buttons on a different side proved that the women were indeed wearing feminine clothing.

Now I know.  And so do you.  Hope you found this interesting.  See you next time.

Kathy


4 comments:

  1. Yes, interesting. I actually have a woman's shirt with buttons on the right side. Now that makes me wonder. Perhaps it was a mistake.

    So, have you been visiting Latane lately? ☺️

    Yay for getting over the bug.

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  2. Hi Kathy. This is such an interesting post to me. Last week, I purchased a very nice feminine looking (at least to me) shirt and when I got it home, I realized that it must be a man's shirt because it buttons on the right. I told my husband and he didn't even know that men's and women's shirts buttoned differents. It is such a nice shirt, that I decided to wear it anyway and have it on today. I had been wondering about the difference last week, but never took the time to look it up, so I really appreciate this post. I hope you have a good weekend. See you again soon!

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  3. I knew there was some reason why men and women buttons were on a different side. Now I know why. Phil doesn't wear sweaters any more. One in drawer most likely will be donated due wrong size now and not my color. I've been having problems with my stomach lately so I'm figuring out how to get it better. Cold weekend in 30s and into below freezing Saturday and Sunday nights 🌙. 🥶 🧊 ☃️ 🧥

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  4. Wow! This series sounds like fun. Makes sense about pulling the gun from the right side. Cool info!

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