Buttons – The Tiny Fasteners That Hold It All Together

Buttons are tiny, mighty, and often lost in the laundry. From their ancient origins to modern fashion, we explore these small but essential fasteners—perfectly dull bedtime material.

This content is derived from the Wikipedia article on Buttons, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license.

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast where I help you drift off one fact at a time.

I'm Benjamin Boster,

And tonight's episode is about buttons and cufflinks.

Let's take a moment to settle in.

If you'd like,

Take a deep breath and get comfortable.

Now let's begin.

A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole.

In modern clothing and fashion design,

Buttons are commonly made of plastic,

But also may be made of metal,

Wool,

Or seashell.

Buttons can also be used on containers such as wallets and bags.

Buttons may be sewn onto garments and similar items,

Exclusively for purposes of ornamentation.

In the applied arts and craft,

A button can be an example of folk art,

Studio craft,

Or even a miniature work of art.

In our case,

A button is a piece of clothing a button can be a significant artifact.

Let's talk about the history of buttons.

Buttons,

Or button-like objects used as ornaments or seals rather than fasteners,

Have been discovered in the Indus Valley Civilization during its quote DG phase,

Circa 2800 to 2600 BC.

Buttons as apparel have been found at sites of the Catacomb Culture,

Russia,

2500 to 1950 BC,

At the Tomb of the Eagles,

Scotland,

2200 to 1800 BC,

And at Bronze Age sites in China,

Circa 2000 to 1500 BC,

And Ancient Rome.

Buttons made from seashell were used by the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BC.

Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and were pierced so that they could be attached to clothing with thread.

Ian McNeill,

1990,

Holds that the button was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening,

The earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley.

It is made of a curved shell and is about 5,

000 years old.

Egypt's 18th dynasty left behind ornate wig covers,

Fabricated through sewing buttons formed of precious metals onto strips of backing material.

Leatherwork from the Roman Empire incorporates some of the first buttonholes with the legionaries loculus clothes through the insertion of a metallic buckle or button into a leather slit.

A similar mechanism would later feature in early medieval footwear.

Buttons appeared as a means to close cuffs in the Byzantine Empire and to fasten the necks of Egyptian tunics by no later than the 5th century.

The Middle Ages.

It has been proposed that the European crusaders brought the innovation of the buttonhole back from the Middle East,

Allowing for more fitted garments for men.

Among this time,

The Vikings were also using buttons,

Which they had come across through their trading partners.

Prior to the introduction of the buttonhole,

Two pieces of fabric were butted together rather than overlapped,

And toggles,

Belts,

Or lacings were used.

The growing importance of buttons was marked by the establishment of button-making guilds the 13th century.

Initially,

King Louis IX of France included button makers in the established Rosary Makers Guild,

But later regulations categorized button makers in three categories.

Those who worked in horn,

Bone,

And ivory.

Those who used metals,

And makers who used precious metals and glass.

The Renaissance.

The fitted fashions of the Renaissance required buttons to achieve their shape.

For example,

The tight-fitting jacket known as the doublet required rows of many buttons.

An additional opportunity to use buttons came with the incorporation of detachable sleeves into garments.

This practice had been in use in Florence since the 1200s.

Sleeves could be switched out to be washed,

Or to be replaced by fancier sleeves demanded by particular settings.

Women's fashion at this time still used lacings,

And thus buttons on their clothing were generally decorative.

Buttons were also impacted by the elegant culture of the Renaissance courts.

They were no longer seen as simple utilitarian objects,

But rather as luxury items that could reflect wealth and status.

These buttons,

Some of which were made of precious metal encrusted with jewels,

Would be seen as jewelry.

Because their owners might want to move those valuable buttons from one piece of clothing to another,

They often were not sewn on with thread.

Rather,

Their shanks were pushed through the fabric,

And were held in place with metal strips inserted through the shank.

At the time,

Wood,

Bone,

Brass,

And pewter made it possible for less expensive buttons to be produced.

The 17th century.

Fabric covered buttons and embroidered buttons became popular in Europe in the 17th century.

These were often small and served a decorative rather than functional purpose.

The early 17th century short jerkin,

Wide breeches,

And cloak may have been adorned by dozens of buttons,

And with so many,

They needed to be lightweight.

The mid-century French originated knee-length coat.

The jus de corps had buttons from the neck to the knee,

Button-sleeve cuffs,

And button flaps on the pockets.

French law concerned with protecting the silk industry in Paris and Lyon required buttons to be covered in silk.

On the other hand,

England did not allow fabric buttons in the late 1600s and early 1700s.

Tailors could make fabric covered buttons with leftover fabric,

Which threatened the guild of button makers.

Because buttons have been manufactured from almost every possible material,

Both natural and synthetic,

And combinations of both,

The history of the material composition of buttons reflects the timeline of materials technology.

Buttons can be individually crafted by artisans,

Craftspeople,

Or artists from raw materials,

Or found objects,

For example fossils,

Or a combination of both.

Alternatively,

They can be the product of low-tech cottage industry,

Or be mass-produced in high-tech factories.

Buttons made by artists are art objects,

Known to button collectors as studio buttons,

Or simply studios,

From studio craft.

In 1918,

The U.

S.

Government made an extensive survey of the international button market,

Which listed buttons made of vegetable ivory,

Metal,

Glass,

Gallowless,

Silk,

Linen,

Cotton-covered crochet,

Lead,

Snap fasteners,

Enamel,

Rubber,

Buckhorn,

Wood,

Horn,

Bone,

Leather,

Paper,

Pressed cardboard,

Mother-of-pearl,

Celluloid,

Porcelain,

Composition,

Tin,

Zinc,

Zylonite,

Stone,

Cloth-covered wooden forms,

And papier-mâché.

Vegetable ivory was said to be the most popular for suits and shirts,

And papier-mâché far and away the commonest sort of shoe button.

Nowadays,

Hard plastic,

Seashell,

Metals,

And wood are the most common materials used in button making,

The others tending to be used only in premium or antique apparel,

Or found in collections.

Over 60% of the world's button supply comes from Chaotou,

Yongjia County,

China.

DECORATION AND COATING TECHNIQUES Historically,

Fashions and buttons have also reflected trends in applied aesthetics and the applied visual arts,

With button makers using techniques from jewelry making,

Ceramics,

Sculpture,

Painting,

Printmaking,

Metalworking,

Weaving,

And others.

The following are just a few of the construction and decoration techniques that have been used in button making.

Harita porcelain,

Cloisonné,

Daguerreotype,

Electroplating,

Embroidery,

Filigree,

Intaglio,

Lacquerware,

Lithography,

Metalizing,

Metal openwork,

Opus interossole,

Pasmentry,

Portrait miniatures,

Satsumaware,

Vitreous enamel.

STYLES OF ATTACHMENT Flat or sew-through buttons have holes through which thread is sewn to attach the button.

Flat buttons may be attached by sewing machine rather than by hand,

And may be used with heavy fabrics by working a thread shank to extend the height of the button above the fabric.

Shank buttons have a hollow protrusion on the back through which thread is sewn to attach the button.

Button shanks may be made from a separate piece of the same or different substance as the button itself,

And added to the back of the button,

Or be carved or molded directly onto the back of the button,

In which latter case the button is referred to by collectors as having a self-shank.

Stud buttons,

Also push-through buttons or just studs,

Are composed from an actual button connected to a second button-like element by a narrow metal or plastic bar.

Push through two opposing holes within what is meant to be kept together,

The actual button and its counterpart press it together,

Keeping it joined.

Popular examples of such buttons are shirt studs and cufflinks.

Snap fasteners,

Also pressure buttons or press studs,

Are metal,

Usually brass,

Round discs pinched through the fabric.

They are often found on clothing,

In particular on denim pieces such as pants and jackets.

They are more securely fastened to the material,

As they rely on a metal rivet attached securely to the fabric.

Press buttons are difficult to remove without compromising the fabric's integrity.

They are made of two couples,

The male stud couple and the female stud couple.

Each couple has one front or top and rear or bottom side.

The fabric goes in the middle.

Toggles are stick-like with a cord attached to the center.

They are passed end ways through a hole and then rotated sideways.

Magnetic buttons,

As the name implies,

Are buttons that attach to each other by being magnetic.

The buttons can be attached either by sewing or snapping them into the fabric.

Fabric buttons.

Covered buttons are fabric-covered forms with a separate back piece that secures the fabric over the knob.

Mandarin buttons or frogs are knobs made of intricately knotted strings.

Mandarin buttons are a key element in mandarin dress,

Where they are closed with loops.

Pairs of mandarin buttons worn as cufflinks are called silk knots.

Worked or cloth buttons are created by embroidering or crocheting tight stitches,

Usually with linen thread over a knob or ring called a form.

Dorset buttons,

Handmade from the 17th century to 1750,

And deathhead buttons are of this type.

Button sizes.

The size of the button depends on its use.

Shirt buttons are generally small and spaced close together,

Whereas coat buttons are larger and spaced further apart.

Buttons are commonly measured in lines and abbreviated L,

With 40 lines equal to 1 inch.

For example,

Some standard sizes of buttons are 16 lines,

10.

16 millimeters,

Standard buttons of men's shirts,

And 32 lines,

20.

32 millimeters,

Typical button on suit jackets.

In museums and galleries.

Some museums and art galleries hold culturally,

Historically,

Politically,

And or artistically significant buttons in their collections.

The Victoria and Albert Museum has many buttons,

Particularly in its jewelry collection,

As does the Smithsonian Institution.

Hammond,

Turner & Sons,

A button-making company in Birmingham,

Hosts an online museum with an image gallery and historical button-related articles,

Including an 1852 article on button making by Charles Dickens.

In the U.

S.

,

Large button collectors are on public display at the Waterbury Button Museum of Waterbury,

Connecticut,

The Keep Homestead Museum of Monson,

Massachusetts,

Which also hosts an extensive button archive,

And in Gurney,

Illinois,

At the Button Room.

Positioning.

Classic clothing has the button on the left side for women and on the right side for men.

The reasons for this are unclear,

But the choice for men's clothing is usually attributed to the need to draw weapons from the left to the right.

The weapon would then not catch on any opening of the clothing.

For women's clothing,

The common reason given is that in times when upper-class women's clothing was quite elaborate,

Servants were needed for dressing,

And the left placement of the buttons was more convenient for right-handed maids.

Some Jews reverse this,

Following statements in the Torah that favor dressing first on the right side,

Or from the Kabbalah,

In which the right side denotes goodness.

In politics.

The mainly American tradition of politically significant clothing buttons appears to have begun with the first presidential inauguration of George Washington in 1789.

Known to collectors as Washington Inaugurals,

They were made of copper,

Brass,

Or Sheffield plate,

In large sizes for coats and smaller sizes for breeches.

Made in 22 patterns and hand-stamped,

They are now extremely valuable cultural artifacts.

Between about 1840 and 1916,

Clothing buttons were used in American political campaigns,

And still exist in collections today.

Initially,

These buttons were predominantly made of brass,

Though horn and rubber buttons with stamped or molded designs also exist,

And had loop shanks.

Around 1860,

The badge or pinback style of construction,

Which replaced the shanks with long pins,

Probably for use on lapels and ties,

Began to appear.

One common practice that survived until recent times on campaign buttons and badges was to include the image of George Washington with that of the candidate in question.

Some of the most famous campaign buttons are those made from Abraham Lincoln.

Memorial buttons commemorating Lincoln's inaugurations and other life events,

Including his birth and death,

Were also made,

And are also considered highly collectible.

Cufflinks are items of jewelry that are used to secure the cuffs of dress shirts.

Cufflinks can be manufactured from a variety of different materials,

Such as glass,

Stone,

Leather,

Metal,

Precious metal,

Or combinations of these.

Securing of the cufflinks is usually achieved via toggles or reverses based on the design of the front section,

Which can be folded into position.

There are also variants with chains,

Or a rigid,

Bent rear section.

The front sections of the cufflinks can be decorated with gemstones,

Inlays,

Inset material,

Or enamel,

And designed in two or three dimensional forms.

Cufflinks are designed only for use with shirts that have cuffs with buttonholes on two sides,

But no buttons.

These may be either single or double length French cuffs,

And may be worn either kissing,

With both edges pointing outward,

Or barrel style,

With one edge pointing outward and the other one inward so that its hem is overlapped.

In the U.

S.

,

The barrel style was popularized by a famous 19th century entertainer and clown,

Dan Rice.

However,

Kissing hot dogs cuffs are usually preferred.

Cufflink designs vary widely,

With the most traditional,

The double panel,

Consisting of a short post,

Or more often chain,

Connecting two circular disc shaped parts,

Both decorated.

Whaleback and toggleback cufflinks have a flat decorated face for one side,

While the other side shows only the swivel bar and its post.

The swivel bar is placed vertically,

Aligned with the post,

To put the links on and off,

Then horizontally to hold them in place when worn.

The decorated face on the most visible side is usually larger.

A variety of designs can connect the smaller piece.

It may be small enough to fit through the buttonhole as a button would,

It may be separated and attached from the other side,

Or it may have a portion that swivels on the central post,

Aligning with the post while the link is threaded through the buttonhole,

And swiveling into a position at right angles to the post when worn.

Links of knotted,

Brightly colored silk enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1990s,

Joined by an elasticated section because they looked fashionable.

The visible part of a cufflink is often monogrammed or decorated in some way,

Such as with a birthstone,

Or something which reflects a hobby or association.

There are numerous styles,

Including novelty,

Traditional,

Or contemporary.

Cufflinks can and have been worn with tuxedos,

Casual wear,

Informal attire,

Or business suits,

All the way to very dressy styles,

Such as semi-formal,

Black tie or stroller,

And formal wear,

Morning dress or white tie,

Where they become essentially required and are matched with shirt studs.

Colorful and whimsical cufflink styles are usually only suitable for casual and relatively informal events,

And signals someone who is fun-loving,

Approachable,

And friendly.

However,

Formal wear has stricter expectations,

With pearl cufflinks being preferred for white tie events.

Traditionally,

It was considered important to coordinate the metal of one's cufflinks with other jewelry,

Such as a watch case,

Belt buckle,

Tie bar,

Or rings.

Sartorial experts prescribe gold to be worn during the daytime,

And silver for evening wear,

But neither expectation is considered as critical as it once was.

An alternative type of cufflink is the cheaper silk knot,

Which is usually two conjoined monkey's fist or turk's head knots.

The Paris shirtmaker Charvet is credited with their introduction in 1904.

They became quickly popular.

Charvet buttons of twisted braid are quite the style,

Noted the New York Times in 1908.

French cuff shirts are often accompanied with a set of color-coordinated silk knots,

Instead of double-buttoned cufflinks.

They are now often not from silk and consist of fabric over an elasticated core.

Owing to the popularity of this fashion,

Metal cufflinks shaped to look like a silk knot are also worn.

Interchangeable cufflinks have started to come back into the marketplace in recent years.

Cartier introduced their type in the 1960s,

Consisting of a bar with a loop at either end that would allow a motif to be inserted at either end,

Perpendicular to the bar.

Cartier referred to the interchangeable motifs as batons.

A set including the bars would come with batons made from coral,

Carnelian,

Lapis lazuli,

Rock crystal,

Onyx,

Tiger's eye,

And malachite.

Bars would have been made from stainless steel,

Sterling silver,

Or 18 karat gold.

Cartier recently re-introduced these interchangeable cufflinks with batons made from striped chalcedony,

Silver obsidian,

Malachite,

Sodalite,

And red tiger's eye.

The accompanying bars are made from 18 karat gold or palladium-plated sterling silver.

The securing mechanism is the same for either series,

Using a small screw inset into the looped end of the bar.

The pressure exerted by the screw on the baton holds them in place.

Another type of interchangeable system was created by Prongen Company.

The cufflink system comes apart allowing the motif,

Referred to as an anchor,

To slide on.

Putting the cufflink back together secures the anchor into the cufflink,

Allowing it to be worn.

Prongen Company's cufflink is simple and similar in concept to charm bracelet bead systems popularized by companies like Pandora Jewelry.

The anchors used in the cufflinks are interchangeable with various charm bracelet systems,

And vice versa.

Although the first cufflinks appeared in the 1600s,

They did not become common until the end of the 18th century.

Their development is closely related to that of the men's shirt.

Men have been wearing shirt-like items of clothing since the invention of woven fabric 5,

000 years BC.

Although styles and methods of manufacturing changed,

The underlying form remained the same.

A tunic opened the front with sleeves and collar.

The shirt was worn directly next to the skin.

It was washable and thereby protected the outer garments from contact with the body.

Conversely,

It also protected the skin against the rougher and heavier fabrics of jackets and coats by covering the neck and wrists.

After the Middle Ages,

The visible areas of the shirt,

Neck,

Chest,

Shoulder,

And wrists became sites of decorative elements,

Such as frills,

Ruffs,

And embroidery.

The cuffs were held together with ribbons as collared,

An early precursor of neckties.

Frills that hung down over the wrist were worn at court and other formal settings until the end of the 18th century.

Whilst in the everyday shirts of the time,

The sleeves ended with a simple ribbon,

Or were secured with a button or a connected pair of buttons.

In the 19th century,

The former splendor of the aristocracy was superseded by the bourgeois efficiency of the newly employed classes.

From then onward,

Men wore a highly conventional wardrobe,

A dark suit by day,

A dinner jacket or tailcoat in the evening.

By the middle of the 19th century,

Modern cufflinks became popular.

The shirt front,

As well as collar and cuffs covering areas of the most wear,

Were made sturdier.

This was practical,

But when clean and starched,

Collars and cuffs underscored the formal character of the clothing.

However,

They could be too stiff to secure the cuffs with a simple button.

As a consequence,

From the mid-19th century onward,

Men in the middle and upper classes wore cufflinks.

The Industrial Revolution meant that these could be mass-produced,

Making them available in every price category.

Colored cufflinks,

Made from gemstones and diamonds,

Were initially only worn by men with a great deal of self-confidence,

However.

This situation changed when the Prince of Wales,

Later Edward VII,

Popularized colorful Fabergé cufflinks in the 19th century.

During this time,

Cufflinks became fashion accessories,

And one of the few acceptable items of jewelry to be worn by men.

This development continued into the early 1900s,

With more cufflinks worn than ever before.

These were available in every type of form,

Color,

And material,

Incorporating both gemstones and less precious stones and glass in cheaper copies.

Intricate colored enameled cufflinks in every conceivable geometric pattern were especially popular.

All of these were of equal value,

As Coco Chanel had made fashion jewelry acceptable to wear.

In a parallel development,

However,

A sportier style of shirt emerged,

With unstarched cuffs that could be secured with simple buttons.

Reviews

Thank you, Benjamin! Buttons did the trick, wow was that dull! 😂

I wonder when I drifted off. I was listening and then... then I wasn't. Thank you once again.