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| http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/6-big-button-blouse |
I was shopping, online, the other day. While looking at a blouse with buttons up the front, I wondered why women’s buttons are backward from men’s. I’m a writer, so I asked my wife to help with a story question, and asked her. She didn’t know, and bristled at my suggestion of being that way to make it easier for men to remove.
"You mean the men who have such a hard time undoing those buttons?" she asked.
I went to wikipedia and found an answer. According to that source, they were placed that way because (well-heeled) women of the nineteenth century didn’t dress themselves. The buttons were designed to help right-handed servants. Men on the other hand, generally had their clothes laid out for them, but they dressed themselves. Men’s buttons were placed on the right to match the latches for armor.
Now, if I dress in a man’s shirt, and wear a woman’s skirt, it would be spotted right away. Maybe we need to get back to nineteenth century traditions. Anybody want to dress me? I could use lots of help with makeup?
On that note, I wonder if zippers were put in the back to replace buttons. The zippers would make it easier for arthritic servants. Yes I’m convinced I need a servant, if only . . .
Of course for the modern transgender, there is something intriguing about buttoning your clothes on the left. Helps you realize that "hey, I’m wearing a women’s shirt."
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