Why Are Men’s and Women’s Buttons on Opposite Sides?
If you’ve ever tried putting on a shirt that was designed for someone of the opposite gender, you may have noticed something peculiar: The buttons are on the “wrong” side. Men’s shirts button left over right, with buttons running down the right side and buttonholes on the left. Women’s shirts do the opposite, buttoning right over left.
Before the rise of buttons, garments were typically laced together or fastened with brooches or clasps. Buttoned closures for garments became prevalent in the 13th century with the advent of the reinforced buttonhole — and the two opposing button configurations for men and women have existed for centuries. But why? Here’s a look at some of the theories behind this long-standing design choice.
Buttons and Battle
Historians don’t know for sure why men’s and women’s buttons are on opposite sides, but some of the most common explanations involve military considerations. According to the authors of The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, medieval breastplates were formed of two separate and overlapping plates. To ensure that an enemy’s lance point would not slip between the plates, they were pieced together with the left plate overlapping the right, “since it was standard fighting practice that the left side, protected by the shield, was turned toward the enemy,” the authors point out. For this reason, they argue, “men’s jackets button left to right even to the present day.”
Others have made similar observations. Due to the predominance of right-handedness (about 90% of humans are right-handed), swords were typically worn on the left side, so they could be drawn with the dominant right hand. According to Paul Keers in A Gentleman’s Wardrobe, men’s shirts and jackets were deliberately designed to button left over right “to avoid catching the pommel of one’s sword in the opening, when drawing it right-handed.”
From avoiding the piercing blows of lance tips to smoothly drawing weapons, there is some logic to the soldierly need for buttoning left over right. But there’s no definitive evidence to support these military theories — and while they might explain the need for buttons on the right, they don’t supply any answers as to why women’s buttons are on the opposite side.
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Medieval Clothing
Arguably the most plausible explanation goes back to when buttons first became fashionable in Europe during the 13th and 14th centuries. At that time, they were often made from expensive materials such as gold, silver, and ivory, and were an indicator of status and wealth. Women’s clothing in particular could be highly elaborate, consisting of multiple garments such as petticoats, bloomers, gowns, corsets, and bustles.
Wealthy women with complex clothes often didn’t dress themselves and instead relied on the help of maids. So, when it came to buttons, the angle of attack was reversed. Men benefited from having buttons on the right side because they typically dressed themselves and people are predominantly right-handed. But when someone is dressing another person who’s facing them, the orientation is reversed. Clothing designers, therefore, crafted their outfits to be buttoned up by the hired help, with their high-society clients in mind. The trend then filtered down, becoming standard in women’s fashion and establishing a convention that persists today.
Breastfeeding, Horses, and Napoleon
Other theories exist, albeit of varying levels of plausibility. One involves the act of breastfeeding. Due to right-hand dominance, women tend to hold their infants in their left arm to keep their right arm relatively free. So, the theory posits, a shirt with the buttons on the left makes it easier for mothers to unbutton using their right hand, while providing slightly easier access. A second theory involves horseback riding and the once-common practice of women riding sidesaddle, which typically involved having both legs on the horse’s left side. By putting women’s shirt and dress buttons on the left, the amount of breeze entering their clothing would be reduced while the rider was trotting along.
Neither theory is particularly convincing, but both are more plausible than blaming the whole thing on Napoleon Bonaparte. Portraits of Napoleon often show the French general and later emperor with one hand tucked into his shirt or waistcoat. This pose was strangely common during the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was considered to demonstrate a kind of calm boldness. According to one button theory, women used to mock the emperor by mimicking his hand-in-waistcoat pose. In response, Napoleon ordered that all women’s shirts be buttoned on the opposite side of men’s to end any mockery at his expense. This fanciful theory seems to have gained at least some traction but is almost certainly apocryphal, as there is seemingly no supporting evidence and button placement conventions predate Napoleon’s era.
