Have you ever noticed that jackets have different button placements depending on who they’re made for? Women’s jackets have buttons on the left side of the jacket. Men’s jackets have them on the right. The reasons for this have been forgotten over time, but there are some compelling theories that explain the differences in how men and women dress.
This golden rule was likely established for medieval tactics, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 1975 exhibition catalogue, “The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor.” “Shields were stacked from left to right to prevent the tip of an enemy’s spear from slipping between them, as it was standard fighting style to have the protected left side facing the enemy. That’s why men’s jackets are still buttoned from left to right today.”
These are the buttons on my favorite jacket. It’s a women’s XL size, and big enough for me (men’s L). Photo by Evan Malakoski for Gear Patrol. These are the buttons on my men’s Levi’s Tracker jacket. Photo by Evan Malakoski for Gear Patrol.
Women’s buttons are reversed because that’s how everyone buttoned their coats in the past, according to the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. “Originally, both men and women’s buttons were on the left side. In the Middle Ages, men’s buttons were moved to the right so they could open their coats with their left hand and draw their swords from their left hip with their right hand.”
Why women’s shirts button on the left and men’s on the right: When buttons first appeared in the 17th century, they were only available to the wealthy. Women were dressed by (right-handed) servants. Buttoning on the left made it easier for the servants https://t.co/79wlVJlLPg pic.twitter.com/8bKkmTnaDR
— Rob Henderson (@robkhenderson) August 13, 2022
Others, however, argue that it’s not the man’s jacket that’s unusual, but the woman’s jacket: according to historians, in the olden days, wealthy women didn’t dress themselves.
