The curious and historical reasons why men’s and women’s clothing don’t button the same

The items of everyday clothing that both men and women wear (shirts, jackets, trousers…) might seem the same to casual observers but there is one subtle difference – they don’t button the same.

Men’s shirts have buttons on the right while for women, it’s the complete opposite – their shirts or blouses have buttons on the left. It seems that it’s always been that way, though not through design, and there are a number of theories why.

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Georgian-era maidservant theory

According to the widely accepted explanation, it’s simply about practicality – a tradition that can be traced back to to the 17th century. During that point in history, most people were right-handed. For men, who dressed themselves, it made sense for buttons to be placed on the right side so that they could fasten shirts using their dominant hand.

However, it was a different story for women, especially those from the privileged classes – as they were usually helped to dress by maids who, like most people, were right-handed. Buttons were placed on on the left side of the garment to make the dressing process easier.

Mothers nursing children

Some claim that left-side buttons made it easier for mothers to breastfeed their babies. Holding the baby in their left arm, they could unbutton the top buttons on their blouse with their right hand.

And maybe it’s just that way to make a clear distinction between men’s clothes and women’s. Who knows the real reason why our clothes button differently? But while it’s such a small detail, with few people even notice or complain about, there’s no point in changing it to make our clothes universal.

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