Why are shirt buttons on the side they're on?

Recent Articles

Handling a Subversion Repository URL Change

Sunday, May 3, 2009

If your repository URL changes, you can use the following command to fix existing snapshots.

vfat Mounts Default to Lowercase Shortnames

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

I want a "this is brain-damage" quote from Linus for this mess.

VirtualBox or VMWare Virtual Machine at Login

Sunday, April 12, 2009

How to start a virtual machine in X when a user logs in.

Dialog Progress Bar Through Pipe

Sunday, April 12, 2009

How to use dialog to display a script progress bar and communicate progress to it through a named pipe.

Mount JFFS2 Image

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Example of how to mount a JFFS2 image using mtdblock.

Ottawa Linux Symposium 2008

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Here are some pictures from the 2008 Linux Symposium.

Linux Symposium 2008

Sunday, July 20, 2008

I'll be attending the Linux Symposium this year.

Clay Shirky: Institutions vs. collaboration

Monday, July 14, 2008

This is a rather interesting talk that takes some very foundational ideas from open source software development, P2P networks, and social networking and implies that these paradigms can apply to a lot more.

Just do it.
- Nike

Blog

Why are...

Why are shirt buttons on the side they're on?

Friday, June 24, 2005 by digitalpeer

Lately, i've lost sleep over wondering why shirt buttons are on the right side for men and on the left side for women. Who decided this and how did all the clothes makers agree on this? Companies never agree on anything. Did they used to be on the same side before some guy got laughed at for wearing female clothing? Is there some ergonomic reasoning behind it- like only one gender was dressed by helpers while the other gender was left to dress themselves? Was there a time in history where the only way you could tell the difference between a man and a woman was the side their buttons were on? I need answers.

Related Local Pages

Linux Symposium 2008
Clay Shirky: Institutions vs. collaboration
Using the PowerShot SD600 In Linux
Join the Podcast Generation
Ubuntu Isn't Half Bad
Digitalpeer Impersonator Alert
Clean Your Computer
Developer's Top 10 Replies
Happy Halloween 2005
Hardees Advertising Commercials

Comment Tuesday, August 9, 2005 by by Eustace Lee

I have also been asking this very same question for years now and still cannot get a sensible answer. Have you had any response so far?

Comment Thursday, August 18, 2005 by by Willie Morris

The reason for this is found in our country's ripe history, when slavery was legal. Women would have a hand maid (either a slave or a less prominent women)that would dress them. It is easier to put on shirts if the buttons are on the right side since most people are right handed and so for someone else to put on your shirt then it is easier if the buttons are on thier right side, your left. Having buttons on the left therefore was a sign of affluence and soon all womens' shirts had buttons on the left. Men did not have someone to dress them therefore there buttons remained on the right while the womens' migrated.

Comment Friday, May 18, 2007 by by tony

It is interesting to me to note that buttons and zippers on men's shirts and Jackets made in former British colonies Canada and Cyprus are reversed from the American order. I wonder, does that mean that most people in those countries were left handed? Maybe the English sent all the left handers to those colonies and all right handers to what was to become the USA. What about the buttons on shirts in, Say, Turkey, or China? Maybe the USA is the only place that it is done for men on the right and women on the left.

Comment Saturday, December 1, 2007 by Munk

Do you know when the left side/right side button fashion began? I didn't think that many people had clothing with buttons until the 1800's. Do any pictures(art) show R/L side buttons in the 1700's?

Comment Saturday, December 29, 2007 by anonymous

I have always been told that it dated back to when men usually carried swords. Since most people are right handed (and therefore hold their sword with their right hand), the sheath would be fastened to the left hip. When shirts were made for men, the buttons were attached to the right side so that when the sword was drawn, it wouldn't catch on the overlap between the button and hole sides of the shirt. Women didn't carry swords, so their shirts didn't need it.

Comment Sunday, May 24, 2009 by anonymous

A while ago I pondered this same question, and decided that the buttons must be on the opposite side for men and women in order to make it easier for them to UNdress each other.

Comment Tuesday, June 16, 2009 by malscott

ha ha i like the answer about buttons being on the opposite sides to make it easier to undress each other.

Comment Tuesday, December 22, 2009 by anonymous

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5138878_do-mens-shirts-button-differently.html

Comment Friday, December 25, 2009 by anonymous

I have also heard that in France Napoleon ordered that all women's shirts be buttoned on the opposite side because women use to stick their hands in their shirts to mock him. With the buttons on the opposite side, women could no longer mock him.