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You are here: Home / Language / Where Did the Practice of Putting Men’s Buttons on the Right and Women’s on the Left Come From?

Where Did the Practice of Putting Men’s Buttons on the Right and Women’s on the Left Come From?

March 5, 2020 by Karen Hill

Decorative buttons first appeared around 2000 BC, but they weren’t commonly used as fasteners until the sixteenth century.

Because most men are right-handed and generally dressed themselves, they found it easier to fasten their buttons from right to left.

However, wealthy women were dressed by servants, who found it easier to fasten their mistresses’ clothes if the buttons were on her left.

The practice eventually became convention and has never changed, even today.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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