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Why Are Men’s and Women’s Buttons on Opposite Sides?

Historians don’t know for sure , but some of the most common explanations involve military considerations. According to The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor, medieval breastplates were formed of two separate and overlapping plates. To ensure that an enemy’s lance point would not slip between the plates, they were pieced together with the left plate overlapping the right, “since it was standard fighting practice that the left side, protected by the shield, was turned toward the enemy,” the authors point out. For this reason, they argue, “men’s jackets button left to right even to the present day.”

Others have made similar observations. Due to the predominance of right-handedness (about 90% of humans are right-handed), swords were typically worn on the left side, so they could be drawn with the dominant right hand. According to Paul Keers in A Gentleman’s Wardrobe, men’s shirts and jackets were deliberately designed to button left over right “to avoid catching the pommel of one’s sword in the opening, when drawing it right-handed.”

From avoiding the piercing blows of lance tips to smoothly drawing weapons, there is some logic to the soldierly need for buttoning left over right. But there’s no definitive evidence to support these military theories — and while they might explain the need for buttons on the right, they don’t supply any answers as to why women’s buttons are on the opposite side.

Arguably the most plausible explanation goes back to when buttons first became fashionable in Europe during the 13th and 14th centuries. At that time, they were often made from expensive materials such as gold, silver, and ivory, and were an indicator of status and wealth. Women’s clothing in particular could be highly elaborate, consisting of multiple garments such as petticoats, bloomers, gowns, corsets, and bustles. Wealthy women with complex clothes often didn’t dress themselves and instead relied on the help of maids. So, when it came to buttons, the angle of attack was reversed. Men benefited from having buttons on the right side because they typically dressed themselves and people are predominantly right-handed. But when someone is dressing another person who’s facing them, the orientation is reversed. Clothing designers, therefore, crafted their outfits to be buttoned up by the hired help, with their high-society clients in mind. The trend then filtered down, becoming standard in women’s fashion and establishing a convention that persists today.