There is always something good to learn on “Tendance” the French show I watch on my TV almost every day.
In one of the shows, I learned about buttons and how they evolved during the centuries.
Buttons photo by Valentina
There was a time when buttons were almost more important than the dress or at least complimented the dress in the same splendor. The first buttons appeared in the XII century Europe and soon became very popular among rich and nobles, who competed with each other in extravagance and opulent fashion. Buttons became so luxurious, often made with precious stones, even painted as miniature art on canvas, and became status symbols only nobles and the rich could wear. Under King Louis XIV high society demanded crazy luxurious buttons and buttons with royal images, thus the King limited the fabrications.
Men, military or not, wore swords on the left, it became a custom in the XVII Century to sew buttons on men’s clothing on the right and buttonholes on the left to allow sabers or swords to be easily removed and not interfering with buttons. I thought men’s buttons are on the right to distinguish from the female garments. Women, in fact, had their buttons sewn on the left and buttonholes on the right to allow servants to dress them easily. Nothing has changed since then, except servants don’t dress us anymore.
Osprey, Men-At-Arms-Frederick the Great’s Army
By the 1950s, the Golden Age of buttons ended, giving the way to leucite and plastic buttons. With the youth revolution of the ’60s, buttons became very colorful, often displayed political, love and peace messages.
Source: https://etsy.me/2IMU0ti
Nowadays, nobody gives great importance to buttons, the main function is to fasten a piece of garment, rarely made to embellish. Zipper, Velcro, and metal fasteners substitute buttons. This black redingote with lucite buttons suits me and defines me perfectly in my bold character. Those clear buttons give visually a high value to the garment.
Redingote
Find my buttons on Etsy: https://tinyurl.com/y6swdu5v
Button Covers by Valentina
Always on the right is not only about buttons. In the civilized world, where good manners still make a difference, women wear hats tilted to the right side of the head, a sassy way to say “I look good”. However, wearing a hat tilted to the right means she can talk and show her face to the man accompanying her. He must walk on her left to give her his right arm in a sign of respect. I don’t feel offended being feminine and allow men to be attentive to me. If a man wants to respect and protect me, I let him and welcome him with open arms.
Always on the right. Again, a woman walking with a man must walk along the side of buildings, not along the sidewalk where there might be dusty cars parked or traffic going by. Who makes up these rules? The bon ton does.
In America, people drive more than they walk, I realize these customs might sound absurd.
Always on the right. In elementary school, we are taught to write with the right hand. In business, it is customary to attach a name tag on the right side of the clothes and as we shake hands with the right hand, the eyes go directly to the name tag. We greet a familiar person with a kiss on the right cheek and the military salute is always done with the right hand.
Don’t we give the right of way when we drive? It’s the rule of driving laws, and if we don’t respect it, we are in for big accidents, huge fines, and hard consequences.
I don’t know why this curious Sunday digression took place in my mind, I guess I wanted to rattle off my thoughts.
Happy Sunday. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved
Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior and Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe. She blends fashion and interior well in any of her design work. She loves to remodel homes and loves to create the unusual, as much as she likes to restyle people’s images. She is a storyteller and finds inspirations everywhere to write her stories. She needs your story to design your dream home or your dream look. She is a public speaker, a mentor, and author. Check out her books on
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