buttoning
by john klug on 04/29/04 at 16:33:44

when buttoning clothing me always start at the bottom and go up....women start at the top and go down....any reason for this or is it a habit thing ??

Re: buttoning
by Robert Fogt on 04/29/04 at 22:49:35

Possibly because men and women have their buttons on opposite sides. Men's garments have the buttons on the right side, while women's garments have the buttons on the left side.

Partly this is because of style. In the old days, women from wealthy families rarely dressed themselves, so the buttons were placed on the left side of the garment to aid right handed servants who dressed them. So it's likely this style caught on even when the woman was not wealthy, possibly it was a sign of wealth just to have buttons on the left side.

Men always dressed themselves, even those from wealthy families. So our buttons have always been on the right to aid right handed buttoning.

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