Why do men and women's buttons do up differently?

The buttons on ladies clothes were originally placed on the left to make it easier for their hand maidens to dress them !

well my answer may sound absurd but i guess the basic reason is that both sexes should not have any difficulty opening eachother buttons in compromising situations.

Men are always RIGHT and women are always LEFT to pick up the pieces. The buttons are on all our clothes to provide us with a reminder of it as often as humanly possible.

One suggested reason is that women were dressed by a maid, who--being usually right-handed, and would be facing the blouse--required reversed buttons.

While we didn't manage to isolate a definitive answer for this question, we learned plenty about the tricky relationship between exigency and style. For example, this lengthy article on button conventions suggests that in the 19th century, well-heeled Victorian women generally didn't dress themselves, so their buttons were designed to be handled by right-handed servants. Although wealthy men may have had servants to lay out their clothes, they generally dressed themselves, and so the buttons on the right side of men's garments made more sense.
A Yahoo! Search on "button history" also led us to Benjamin "Good Advice Is Timeless!" Dover of the Dallas Morning News. Mr. Dover notes that the first button jackets for men were modeled after the latching designs of armor, which were designed to stop a right-handed opponent from jamming a pike through the seam. He also suggests that the left-side buttons on women's clothes may have been intended to facilitate nursing an infant on the side closest to the woman's heart.

Jeff Elder of the Charlotte Observer (who has one of the greatest byline photos we've ever witnessed) suggests that men's coats were designed to make it easier for them to unbutton their coats with their left hand while drawing their swords with their right.

It was done this way to make it easier for the maids to dress the woman, whereas men dressed themselves.

It was far easier for maids to dress females when the buttons were on the left

the maid answer is quite correct,
but it also helps me not to put the wife's blouse on by mistake.

I was just wondering if anyone had also noticed that women's jeans button the same way as men's jeans. This may come from the fact that jeans were originally a garment that was worn by men.

And similarly so men could get the women's clothes off quicker!!!

The reason women's clothes button up on the opposite side to men's dates back to when all the posh women had personal maids to dress them in the morning and undress them at night, so to make it easer for the maid buttons were put on the opposite side since most people are right handed is easier to have the buttons on the right side of the garment thus women had theirs on the left.

Because you wear the sword on the left side of the body, if you wish to draw you sword quickly it would catch on your clothing. It is also the same reason why you mount a horse from the left; if you mount the horse from the right you would have to drag the sword over the horse as well. Mind you, who wears a sword nowadays apart from the military?

This is what I was told when I asked this question years ago <smile>
When buttons were first put on clothing they were very expensive and only rich people could afford them. As it was usual at that time to have maids to dress and undress the rich ladies the buttons were put on that way so that it was easier for the maid to do them up.
Men of course had to dress themselves which is why they have their buttons on the opposite way.
Hope this helps.

in days of ole

when men were men and ladies were lerhayyyydeeez

their trusty hand maidens would help them dress, put on corsets and generally cram them into clothes

so with the buttons on the other side of the shirt to the men folk, hand maidens could more easily access and help their mistress to dress.

....and girls complain they do everything!, when even their clothes are designed for other people to do it! :)

Its cause women have no rights,

hahaha

The reason is because in the olden days women were dressed by mainds and men drew their swords from the right and because the Romans build roads and two rights don't make a wrong, also men are always right and shirts were invented by a right wing movement and only women can breast feed. Basically I have copied all of the answers. I have a question why do people right the SAME ANSWERS but just word it differently? One "easier for maids to dress women is o.k"
Maybe it's just so we can tell whether clothes are made for men or women so men don't accidently wear a blouse to work.

If you ask Harriet Harmon she'll blame it on sexism.

why do Yahoo keep putting these easy inane questions on the homepage? do some research and find out yourselves!

The only credible explanation I have heard is this:

Most people are right handed, so the buttons should be manipulated with the right hand.

Men dress themselves, so the buttons are on the right-hand side.

Women (I should say 'rich women who lived a few hundred years ago') had someone, like a maid, to dress them. Someone standing in front of the lady would button her clothing, so the buttons should be on the maid's right-hand side. Therefore the buttons are on the left-hand side for the person wearing the garment.

This difference just became accepted in the clothing industry, and has persisted to this day (although perhaps some clothing designers like the idea of being able to take off women's clothing more easily).

Historically, women of means had 'dressers' whilst men dressed themselves, the majority being right handed, convention established then.

This is obviously because women use a mirror when they dress, so the buttons appear on the correct side when viewed in the mirror.

Actually, it might be so that when men take off women's clothes it makes it more simple for our brains to understand. I think everyone is familiar with the turmoil that can ensue when trying to undo a bra. It should be made using Velcro! Why oh why must these obstacles exist?? -Thank goodness for the buttons.

Maybe it is to help transvestites know when they are definitely getting a bit fruity. I think this is the most likely of all my ideas.

men's buttons are on the right as they were originally dresses with the maids facing them..women's are left as the maid dresses women from behind.. so that's why there different sides but to a maid she used the same hand to do up buttons..

Because men had servants or batmen to do their buttons up for them so if you are facing the man doing up his buttons they are the same way round to you as a woman's shirt is now. Women had servants to do their buttons up to normally they were at the back of the garment.

well its simple men are allways right so are buttons are on the right. women only think there right so they dont have bottons on the right. i said it was simple like most women lol i bet i get loads off female fans lol.

Not any more since Harriot Harman decreed that all buttons should be on the left side in the name of equality.

women are just difficult!

Men in the olden days (ah, what times) would dress themselves, whereas the ladies got servants to dress them. Being the olden days, and the maids being rather stupid (its the olden days of course, lets not assume the peasants have intelligence) they'd get confused easily and so to avoid confusion, the servants put the buttons on the "right way round" for them to do.

Hence, women have had to fiddle about with left to right, whereas we men go ahead and get ready quicker.

as far as I am aware, it stems from days long ago when men carried arms, eg. swords, daggers,pistols. As probably most were right-handed, it was easier to extract a weapon from the left side, as opposed to the right.

because men are right all the time

There are 3 answers to this question:
1. To do with the maids being right handed
2. To do with military purposes
3. Fashion
It is only for the last few centuries that buttons have been used and were initially so expensive that only rich people could afford them. The military found it easier to mass produce uniforms with buttons on the right but ordinary women and men didn't start using them until more recently, relying on laced items instead. Aristocratic women chose to be different to men and etiquette said that the lady should be to the left of the man with neither being able to peer into the gap left between the buttons of their clothes.
The tradition has stayed the same and there's no reason it shouldn't change now, so the answer is that it was the aristocratic ladies that chose which side their buttons went and nothing to do with men.

Buttons were around long before maidens. And not all people with buttoned clothes had maidens. Also, men were dressed by man-servants, and - being as most people are right-handed, this makes the claim that buttons were moved to address maids' needs dubious. Maids had no power to change styles but - see previous answer - there is also no proof that they were less intelligent than people today. Many years ago, I did read that it is related to combat; again because of our right-handed world. Warriors would normally carry their shield on the left arm; their sword in the right, so the natural defensive move is for a man to protect him (and those he protects) with his left arm; hence men's clothes fold over from the shield side - the left. Women's clothes close from the right; defining men as the protector, women as the protected. So, the question is more of why do women's clothes do up differently? Buttons were merely a way of securing the left or right fold.

mine are down the middle on all my shirts, what do you think that means

to stop men wearing their wives/girlfriends clothes - so no good for Alex Reid

Because women used to be dressed by a servant. :)

Just to differentiat which cloths are for men and what belongs to women :)

Interestingly, when I bought a jacket in the UK, I got confused buttoning it. It turned out that it buttoned backward to my shirts from the US. Is it possible that in the UK, in addition to driving on the left-side, they also button their shirts on the left-side? Or is it just this one jacket?

Its to stop mannies fae wearing wifie's blouses.

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For the man it made like that to get easier to put the button with left hand whilst the right hand holding the weapon...save time and probably life if there was immediate attack from enemy...

I believe the answer is to do with hand maidens dressing their ladies as stated above. What wasn't stated is that the invention of the button, and the stitching of the buttonhole made garments with buttons, for a short period at least, only affordable to those with money and therefore, hand maidens. Gentlemen, although having batmen and valets, tended to dress themselves.

The explanation regarding gentlemen having access to their swords doesn't explain why a lady's garment would be buttoned differently.

Goes back to when the rich employed staff to help them get dressed

as far as i know to differentiate that the shirt with buttons on the right is for the men and when it is on the left that is for a women.

how come this to yahoo home page:))))))?

I thought it might be because men and women use different parts of their brain to accomplish certain tasks and that would be related to facilitating dexterity and agility of the movements

It is so that blokes can undo them easier! BUT why do girls have zip fly's in their jeans? That's is a real puzzler as it cannot have any practical function like a blokes fly?

What ? There's a difference?

Why on earth is this unimportant petty subject making the yahoo homepage?!!

Load of rubbish being spouted.
It is purely to distinguish between male and female clothing.
Just as hair partings are on different sides for men and women.

I believe the buttons are this way because it was easier for the servants to button up the clothes of their lords and ladies ie the females dressed the females and the males dressed the males. quite plausible do you think?

becous for men its easy to oppen women dress hahahha

so that the women don't steal (or make a mistake to wear) their men's shirt and vice versa.
For easier identification in short.

Because according to world history, buttons really were on the left side for both sexes but then when men would quickly take their swords from the side, their clothes would open up so the buttons were transferred to the right :)

congratulations, you have made the yahoo news

I've never seen this many answers to a question before. Good luck with picking best answer buddy!

Dunno, I use a zip!

your all wrong,.....its because the woman allways has to keep her right hand free to serve her man,just as it should be.she closes buttons with the left and pours the can of lager with her right, its why woman ahve developed the ability to multi task.all thanks to us men...

To answer this question you first have to start with the trousers, and also know that most people are right handed.The simple fact is , it is easier for men to 'prepare' for toilet by having the zip on the the right. I know this, as I am left handed, and frequently wish it were on the left!!

Given this, then it is logical that mens shirts follow the same design, so it opens on the right, so both trousers and shirts are coordinated.

Therefore, to differentiate, women use the opposite.

It is a pity this is now convention, as I am sure most left handed men would find it easier to wear ladies trousers and shirts.!!

The answer regarding the maid above is partially correct.

It has nothing to do with any kind of weaponry!!! That's a nice myth, but entirely eronious.

It actually dates from victorian times, when it was seen as unseemly and unwomanly for women to be wearing clothing that was too much like a man's. Also because that is when buttoned clothing for women really came to the fore in the guise of 'tailor-mades' (i.e. suits), and garments that reflected military clothing. Before that, women's clothes didn't use that many buttons at all as anything other than decoration. (With the long standing exception of the riding habit.)

However, on clothing prior to the Victorian period (as evidenced by many, many extant garments both in museums and in private collections) there was no hard and fast rule for men's clothing or women's clothing. Men's clothes could button in what we consider the 'woman's way' and women's clothing could button in the 'man's way'. It wasn't unheard of among poorer people for the buttonholes to be sewn up, and the buttons sewn to the other side of the garment to increase its life.


Debbie, historical costumer and costume historian.

It all goes back to knights in armour. The old armour used to do up from the right hand side because a right handed person with a knife couldn't slide a knife inside the armour if it was done up on the left hand side. People without history stretching beyond five hundred years wouldn't know this.
It's the same with spiral staircases;- a proper spiral staircase climbs up to the left so that a right handed swordsman cannot use a sword when climbing.

If you look at old armour you will see that mens armour is made so that on the front it overlaps left over right. Buttons have carried on this trend. If someone is wielding a sword ( and most sword wielders were right handed) the sword would not penetrate the armour but slide over it. If the armour was the other way the sword would penetrate the armour and be somewhat painful for the wearer. Hence the button on the right. As regards the buttons on the left for women it was just to show the clothes were not mens.

Back in "the olden days", whereas men would dress themselves, women would normally be dressed by a maid. As the maid would be facing the woman being dressed, it was regarded as being easier and simpler to have women's' buttons on the left.
Nowadays, this also makes the identification of shirts and blouses easier, as you can tell straight away whether a garment is a blouse or shirt without actually looking to see the design or style of it.

So that men can undress their wives faster?

so it will take women longer to access a man's wallet.

i know women have smaller feet than men to get closer to the sink

simple conventions.

It's actually to do with breastfeeding: it made it easier to 'nurse'.

Having worked as a dresser (for shows) it is equally easy to button right and left buttons on other people - the maid theory is one of those left-wing-into-popular-culture myths. People like it because it's to do with class and history, but it isn't really the answer.

well who cares why, really? also why cant everyone read the answers first b4 putting the same answer over n over...

i guse because they dont want confuse people. e.g sometimes confused men buy women jeans and confused women buy men jeans hence the need of differences with button.

Maybe just to differentiate from a woman's shirt and a man's shirt.

Right is the male side , left is the female side , this has always been the case . Men's clothes button on the right so that a man can tuck his right hand ( sword hand ) in and keep it warm . Women don't need swords so their buttons are reversed .

Because it was easier for the lady's maid to button up her mistresses clothes

Because in days of yore, men carried a weapon on the left, and to draw a sword they used the right hand (usually). If their doublet or whatever buttoned right over left there would have been a possibility of catching the weapon in clothing. The result of that? You'd be dead! Simple as that.

Why women needed to be different is open to question, but maybe it was because they could just be 'cuss-ed' about things at times! And why not, I ask?

Next time I see a woman soldier in a tunic, I'll have a look and see if they still practice the difference!



MS

For the same reason that women's clothes are often buttoned at the back: because in days (mostly) gone by, someone else dressed them, either parents, sisters or maids. Men (OK, boys above the age of ten) were expected to dress themselves.

Most men are right-handed so used to carry swords on their left hips. If the coats had buttons on the right it was easier to reach inside their coat to get their swords out. Women of status had servants to dress them and if you are facing someone it is easier to do up buttons if they are on the left.

i am glad this got on the front page of yahoo.

on an unrelated topic

DAVID CAMERON HAS A MELTY FACE

to tell the difference between male and female

I don't know the answer but in unisex clothing,the buttons are on the right!

As with all pointless questions, the most succinct and definitive explanation is "because".

Men and womens Buttons are different because 99% of the male population that fought in wars were right handed... and this enabled them to draw their weapons from their clothing during battle... through gaps between the buttons which cannot be done with the right hand if the buttons are on the oposite side... this is what we were taught in school... im not sure of any references to this idea but it sounds right

Id agree with the maid dressing the mistress too, sounds plausable. But as i say history at school never lies... or does it lol

The important difference is the hand you use when you fasten the buttons up one-handed. The technique is thumb into the hole - index finger under the button to push it through. I think it is not possible to do the button up with the 'wrong' hand. Men have to use their left hand and women have to use their right hand. As most people are right-handed, the women's side is the natural way (nothing to do with maids) so it needs no explanation. I was always told that men have them the other way round so they use their left hand to button up, leaving their sword arm free - same reason why horses keep left when passing each other (at least in the UK and other commonwealth countries - in some of the younger countries they shoot each other so it doesn't matter if you drive on the right).

It's so people (Mainly many men) who are absolutely petrified of accidentally cross dressing can easily identify which sex a garment is supposed to be for if it looks quite neutral

I have always believed it stems from when there was a need for men to wear swords. Because the left side of a coat overlapped the right side it was possible for a man to lift the left side and pull apart the coat thus revealing the sword and giving access to the handle quickly in the case of emergency. Were they to be overlapping in reverse (i.e. right over left) access to the sword handle would be very difficult.

This goes back to the days European Royalty. Men's shirts button on the right because they dress themselves and, also, it helps men to get at the weapon tucked in their shirt. Ladies shirts button on the left to make it easier for their maids to dress them.

In olden times when men wore swords usually on their left hand side.They ensured that it would not catch on their clothes when drawn by placing the buttons on the right. Women did not carry swords so they used the other side.

Ladies buttons were put on the left side of the garment to make it easier for their hand maidens to do the buttons up.

To make it easier fo women to dress other women and for men to keep their clothes on at war............How did this get on the home page? Why??

so a man would know if he is wearing his wifes' blouse or not ! ;o)

So it is easy for men to take them off - cos they have been through a lot to get there :-) cant wait any more

bcoz it is easier for men to open buttons of women's shirts and trousers and women to open men's, (when they are facing each other).

Did away with the need to print L and R on sets of buttons for the ladies !

Helps us Fellas get a women's blouse of quickly without tearing it open in frustration!

Anne... Loved your post... Hilarious !!

men are right hand of a woman

Men dress themselves because they can.

Women tend to need someone to do this for them, so the buttons are placed to make it easier for the assistant.

its well known that men are the superior sex that is the reason sorry lall you women

the woman is always at the left side of the man. infact Eve was pulled from the left arm of Adam. look at the animal kingdom, every specie, the male is always the finest, colorful, pretiest one. we just too right...yaknow....hehehe

It is so men can undress their lady friends quickly xx

It`s easier for a teenage boy to gain access from the left side of a girl blouse

Simple! It's a man's design thing! It was designed to make convenient for men to slot their right hands into the opposite person's clothes easier.

it is a throw back to when more affluent woman were usually dressed by servants or maids and the buttons were put on this way so that the servant could fasten them more easily

Because right handed people make womans and left handed people make for men

This cannot have had anything to do with women and their maids....far more women didn't have maids than did. How did maids do up their clothes? Zips?!

Because the right hand side is considered to be a position of Authority. Take a look also in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ after the transfiguration, the bible records that He is currently seated at the right hand side of the father.

Secondly, When a man gets married, he automatically takes the right hand position which symbolizes authority over the women.

Thanks for the opportunity to contribute my opinion.

Sincerely,

Michael

It makes it easier for partners to unbutton each other before sex.

this is ridiculus gona u all button it

Because in the olden days, before makeup was invented and it was fashoinable for women to be fat, it was a lot harder to tell men from women. A quick glance at the buttons would clear up any confusion and avoid any embarrassing Crocodile Dundee moments.

its because women used to dress men so it was easier to have it the other way round!

The opposite buttons for the different sexes came about to make it easier for a man to draw his sword.

Because, women like everybody else got their heart on the left and try to keep everybody tied up in a strong relationship but men likes no heart on the right , no feelings for anybody.No offence but this is true ....................

its so the iron doesnt catch when women are ironing after they have done the washing up

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Shirts are the other way round too. It all dates back to when the rich had servants who got them dressed. The servant would stand in front of a man to get him dressed but behind a lady so the buttons ended up being done different ways, and it's just stuck.

Today there is simply no need for this practise to continue but clothing manufacturers are loath to change as most women are now used to the arrangement and a large number would have to learn using the buttons on the opposite side.

Maids had no power to change styles but - see previous answer - there is also no proof that they were less intelligent than people today. Many years ago, I did read that it is related to combat; again because of our right-handed world. Warriors would normally carry their shield on the left arm; their sword in the right, so the natural defensive move is for a man to protect him (and those he protects) with his left arm; hence men's clothes fold over from the shield side - the left. Women's clothes close from the right; defining men as the protector, women as the protected. So, the question is more of why do women's clothes do up differently? Buttons were merely a way of securing the left or right fold.

Many

it was stated that no man should wear the clothes of a woman or vice-versa. Our highly devout great great great great grandparents didn't want to fall foul of this, and so to make sure, they put buttons on different sides of garments! The reason for the particular choice may well have been because of the man's sword arm, and also because the right side was seen as the more pure, (left translates as sinister in Latin, and even became associated with the devil!)but after years of disappointment, of men getting killed in battle due to their thumbs getting caught in the shirt as they drew their sword, a night suggested to have the buttons change, it would be an advantage, hence all male shirts across Europe where changed. this was because most men fought with their right hand.

This is a throwback to a rather disturbing time in our history when the well-to-do lady of the house made no attempt to dress herself, the task was performed by a maid, since the majority were right handed (no offence intended to lefties) it made it much easier if the buttons were arranged this way.

it was therefore considered to be a test of cleanliness if you could button up a right handed shirt, which if you were left-handed you obviously could not, therefore you were evil!!! (A bit like the water test wherby if you sank if thrown into a river whilst bound and gagged, you were possessed by evil spirits, so they let you drown. Have you tried doing this to see if you float?) So in other words, if you were left handed in the Middle Ages, you were evil. This continues to some establishments in the present day, where if you were naturally left-handed at school, the teacher would tie the left hand behind your back, or rap you across the knuckles of your left hand if seen using it, to force you to use the right hand. And that's where it all eminated from, the good old Middle Ages. Thank-You, Thank-You.

It actually dates from victorian times, when it was seen as unseemly and unwomanly for women to be wearing clothing that was too much like a man's. Also because that is when buttoned clothing for women really came to the fore in the guise of 'tailor-mades' (i.e. suits), and garments that reflected military clothing. Before that, women's clothes didn't use that many buttons at all as anything other than decoration. (With the long standing exception of the riding habit.)

The technique is thumb into the hole - index finger under the button to push it through. I think it is not possible to do the button up with the 'wrong' hand. Men have to use their left hand and women have to use their right hand. As most people are right-handed, the women's side is the natural way (nothing to do with maids) so it needs no explanation. I was always told that men have them the other way round so they use their left hand to button up, leaving their sword arm free - same reason why horses keep left when passing each other (at least in the UK and other commonwealth countries - in some of the younger countries they shoot each other so it doesn't matter if you drive on the right).

Women (I should say 'rich women who lived a few hundred years ago') had someone, like a maid, to dress them. Someone standing in front of the lady would button her clothing, so the buttons should be on the maid's right-hand side. Therefore the buttons are on the left-hand side for the person wearing the garment.

Mr. Dover notes that the first button jackets for men were modeled after the latching designs of armor, which were designed to stop a right-handed opponent from jamming a pike through the seam. He also suggests that the left-side buttons on women's clothes may have been intended to facilitate nursing an infant on the side closest to the woman's heart.

Because men and women are differently wired and this is just to differentiate the two genders.

.

This is because when buttons were first applied to clothing the women at that time would dress the men. So using this arrangement, the buttons were always on the left side for the women when they are dressing themselves or dressing their partner.

So it matches the same set-up as that of trousers and belts. Ever noticve that womens pants have the closure on the opposite side as mens. So also do the belts go.

because more women are left handed?

DO They :O

Its made differenty..wow I wish I had this many answers on my question in 2 days.*cough*
yeaaa cold ugh*

wow you have alot of answerers LOL

cause women and men are different ... duh!

because men are smarter

why does it matter to you...

Good question! Maybe we will never solve this riddle for definite! I think the following are all plausible reasons:

(1) the rich/elite women getting dressed by their maids
(2) differences between the male and female brains
(3) men drawing a sword so as not to get the hilt/handle or cross-guard part caught in the parting of his clothing (sword is kept on the left hip, but drawn with the right hand...)
(4) certain types of men’s armour being designed to be more resistant to the sword of a right-handed attacker (left flap is over the right flap making it harder for the tip of the sword to end up between the flaps..)

Other possibilities:
(a) intentionally put on the left hand side of blouses, as women in general are more dexterous than the 'clumsy' man, so by dressing and undressing every day she is sharpening her "nimble finger" skills. Then when it comes to sowing an elbow patch on her partners garment, she has all her finger training done.. and she is ready for some needle action!

(b) I disagree with the suggestion that it makes it easier for a right handed man to undress a woman. In fact, it's quite the opposite!!! It takes longer to unbutton a blouse from the opposite side than it does a shirt (if you are right handed..). Try it yourself! The hardest work is in relation to the manipulation of the button itself, and this is more easily done with the right hand. So... having the button of a blouse on the left hand side of the garment, it means it pushes through the fabric of the opposite flap to show up on her right hand side. This means a man will be forced to use his weaker clumsy left hand to do the button manipulation to get the blouse off her. This might explain why the guy in the movie just rips the blouse off his woman in the heat of first passion! I suppose you could call this clever button positioning an early form of sexual deterrent. (Then again... a deterrent might only make the guy try harder, so she will know if he is really interested in her).

(c) Even if the female is wearing a coat with buttons spaced out far enough for a male to get his hand in between them, the button layout will deter any groping also. A right handed male will first go for a feel of the woman's left breast, so if the woman's jacket has buttons on the left flap, the jacket's right flap will be outside the left flap. Therefore only her right breast will be easily accessible to the male. He will not choose to "cross over" as he would be unable to grope and kiss her at the same time! And even if the man gets behind her, he is still snookered if he wants to use his right hand for the grope. Women are clever!

This has made me think that all those left handed guys have it so good...

It should be noted all the above possibilities are based on the fact that most people (over 80% of the population) are right handed, so in a way we can answer the blouse button question if we can figure out why most people are right handed. It could be because the human body is asymmetrical (the heart is slightly more to your left, the liver is on the right, and one kidney is higher than the other etc.). Because of this absence of symmetry, we inherently have a dominant side, and due to genetics (or natural selection/evolution) one side has prevailed over the other.

Could all this lop-sidedness and dominant sides, eventually be traced back to the asymmetry of the Big Bang. There is a ratio of "dark matter" to "normal matter", and matter to anti-matter in the Universe. It's only because of the lack of balance that we exist. If the same amount of matter and anti-matter existed they would cancel each other out, and everything would be annihilated.

How did I go from buttons to anti-matter????????

the reason for this is because the place of the heart.

If both of them did the same way. This question would have never popped up! So it is just to differentiate between men & women's ;)

need the different between men and women thats why the butten is wright side for men and left side for women.

cause theyre easier

The side for men's buttons goes back to very early times (probably before buttons were invented) when predominantly right handed men had there trouser fly arranged for right handed access. When buttons were invented they were naturally sewn to the body of the trousers and the button holes were put on the fly.

Women had no use for a fly. Arguments for maids finding it easier to dress their ladies may well be the reason for the difference in side for lady's buttons.

In the past when servents were more common place the women would be dressed and as most people are reight handed it was easier for the bottons to be fastened on the left. Men on the other hand dressed themselves so buttoned on the right for the same reason of ease for a right handed person

As I understand it this stems from the days when men wore arms and needed their right arm free to draw a sword or pistol

I couldn't care less

ITS TO HELP THE MEN TO REALISE WHICH IS A MANS SHIRT TO A WOMANS 1 SO WE GET ALOT LESS TRANNIES IN THE WORLD

Simple,so its easy for the men to get at womens baps.NEXT!

i think its to to tell the differance!

I've come across this question before. Unfortunately I do not remember where. The answer however is:
in ancient times buttons used to be expensive and were usually affordable by the wealthy. wealthy women were dressed by their maids (and believe me dresses in those days were.. eh .. lets just say there were no mini skirts) hence it was easier for the maids to button the women's dresses since if sewn on the left, it would be at the right of the maid who is dressing them. Men on the there hand dressed up themselves and it was easier for them to to dress themselves with their buttons on the right. As zips where introduced and buttons became cheaper, this convention became the norm. As you can see dresses are designed to be buttoned up or zipped up by the right hand (which i suspect is the case because most people are right handed). Hence in the ancient times women had their buttons on the left so their maids could use their right hand to dress them up, while men had theirs on their right so they could dress themselves up with their right had. As it was in the beginning, so is it and shall be at the end

Because, in more sexist ages past, a man's opinion was always taken to be the 'right' one over a woman's, whilst women were 'left' at home when the men went to work?
No, I don't believe or accept that either! In point of fact I may very well have just invented that to get a rise out of the readers...
Me, I like the theory that was submitted regarding nursing and armour / sword belts.
Although in modern times of mixed laundry loads, I rather suspect it helps in avoiding accidental cross-dressing as well.
I've got loads of other nonsense ideas, but too little time to waste on them!

I think this is based on a long standing cultural beliefs about the two sides, right and left. Right being the side that is predominantly accepted as good, as strong because most people are right-handed, men having monopoly in most cultures, chose the right side for the buttons. All that is bad and weak is then associated with women.

because men are from mars and women are from venus

Because the man is always right!

bad reasons! not naming them! but who cares anyway!:)

all mens' garments have their buttons that way as it dates back to the time when our streets were lawless (yes i now). It was easier in reach inside a coat to reach the handel of a sword or pistol worn on the left hip without the overlap of the garments getting in the way. Think of the large coats as worn by the three musketeers and you get the idea. Women were of course unarmed or carried small pistols in a muff. and as men walk on the right of a woman this leaves his right arm free to reach between them to reach his sword.

This stems from days of yore when chivalry was paramount and women were mere chattels. The right arm was the sword arm which should not be impeded hence left arm used for opening buttons etc. Women trying to assert their status chose to have the buttons on the other side simply because they wanted to be different.

In days gone by men needed to pull back the left side of their coat to get at their sword, it as easier if the coat had buttons on the right hand side

So that when getting dressed in the dark, you can tell whether you have inadvertently donned your partner's clothes. assuming your partner's gender is different to yours.

My Great Gran was a tailoress. She always told me that women's clothes button on the left so that they can button them with their right hand while nursing a baby on their left, and that men's button on the right so they can button them with their left hand whilst holding a sword in their right.

The story that it arose because women used to be dressed by maids while men dressed themselves is unlikely to be correct, as men of a certain class were just as likely to be dressed by their valets (or batmen if they were in the armed forces) as women were to be dressed by their maids.

To assist with breast feeding. Most people, including mothers, are 'R' handed and favour cradling baby in 'R' arm.

To make it easy for the sex to open comfortably

From days gone by when men were dressed. Most people being right handed, it would have been easier to dress when in front of them.

Men are cack handed due to over-activity with the right hand which they rest where they can.

So that the maids that used to dress ladies could do the buttons up easily

A lot of men are left handed

It is quite perplexing that people just repeat what other people said over and over again. As if there is some kind of a prize to be won. If you know the answer but somebody else has given it, you do not have to anymore cos you are not adding any effing thing to it.

"Jeff Elder of the Charlotte Observer (who has one of the greatest byline photos we've ever witnessed) suggests that men's coats were designed to make it easier for them to unbutton their coats with their left hand while drawing their swords with their right".

What a load of twaddle! Just how often did a man need to take off his coat when picking up a sword? The real reason is the dressing of a person by a maid or man servant and so needing reversed buttonholes, period!

Men & women's buttons do up differently just to identify the clothes in bulk.

Women get everything the wrong way round. Its their brains. They can't help it!

i know its something with the way a man and lady´s brain operates. generally men use the left side of their brain whilst woman use the right side

It symbolizes the Gods creation that awoman was created from the left ribs of a man hence buttons their shirts and trousers from leftside

To make it more complicated!!!! Traditionalist reasons are dumb and most often not practical... out with the old please ! Im surprised it wasn't because the bible said the buttons should b on different sides ... you say im a ***** like its a bad thing!
-da unapologetic *****
Love me or leave me x

dont know

There on the right for men, because they can take there jacket it off, whilst pulling out his sword in battle, and the womans on the left, because it was easier for the maids to dress them (=

The reason is the company will take the clothes which are including women and men.They don't want to mix their clothes up.They need to make some differences,so men have buttons on the right side and women have them on the left.

because , in the past the buttons of jacket was on the right side , so they could not ues sword easily
after that some people change indecate of bottons for men, while the place of bottons of women clothes did not change.

Don't know

Women do theirs up from the bottom while looking in the mirror. This is illogical.Do I need to say more?

Women used to be dressed up by their maids, hence the button is on the other side.

Womans buttons go to the heart, mens away from the heart, making men heartless!

Body contour baby body contour

Both men and women are mostly right-handed and prefer the buttons on the right side of their clothes. But because women often look at themselves in the mirror when they make up, even when dressed, so they have put the buttons on the left, so that they in the mirror can feel as if they are knotting with the right hand from right to left.

it s easy for the women to unbutton the shirt to hold and breast-feed the baby .

so that it is easier and faster for both to unbutton each other.. for men button will be on the right hand side for him as well as her side, and for the women the buttons will be on the lefthand side for her and his side... so for men his right hand is more used to the button and for the women the left hand...

So which side were the maids' buttons on?
Men's and women's brains work differently. (Assuming most of the world is right-handed) a woman would be more likely to PULL the button through because that is where she wants it to end up, whereas a man's engineering brain calculates that the best way to get it there is to PUSH it through!

I have heard something with king Henry V who was awkward enough to piss alone, and her wife helped him with her left hand.

Most people are right handed, and men are usually more aggressive than females, so their buttons are done on the right side so not to get unbutton easily when on a fight.

Secondly women are done on the left so that men can struggle a little bit when unbuttoning females since i mentioned most people are right handed

I thought that men´s shirt button left over right because of Napoleon and the way he stuck his hand in his jacket-shirt

This is based on position when a man and a woman are together; A man sits on the left side of a woman and a woman on the right side of a man.

In the old days, ladies had servants who did up the buttons for them.

So, the button-doer uses the right hand in both sexes.

is it .in days of old ,men walked on the right hand side of women therefore they could not get a glimpse of the woman breasts.
seems reasonable in days of gentlemen

I think the reason behind that, during the middle ages the knights were wearing the sword in the left side of their body and when they want to use the it they found the button position hold the swords, so they change it to the opposite side. sorry for my bad english.

Its tradition really from the older times. Buttons on a ladies clothes were originally placed on the left to make it easier for their hand maidens to dress them.

I suppose it's the same as asking the question, why can't women read maps upside down?..
The reason why the buttons are opposite are to give a clear indication to men when buying clothes that they don't inadvertently buy womens jeans that are are tailored to fit womens figures, same for shirts and so on.

Because we simply allow a convention to continue. There is no reason at all for all buttons to be on the same side. This matter should be fully debated in the House of Commons and a new Bill on equality of button location be considered as a matter of urgency. We need closure on this issue.

Because in the old days when people had servants who dressed them the buttons would be on the same side

It dates back to 1992 when it was common for men to smuggle fish and oranges, and women would frequently carry around a small animal (e.g. a hamster) for company. This also explains why men are, on average, older than women of a similar age.

Women of a certain class would be dressed by their maids; thus the right-handed maid could do the left-sided buttons up with ease.

Men do it with the right hand, while the women do it with the left hand.

Before sexual intercourse, men are obliged to undress women (as a matter of courtesy, now-a-days it can be either way). Most Men being right-handed found it difficult; as such buttons for women were placed on the left for easy removal and quick undressing.

Women like being dressed and UNDRESSED by others unlike men who dress and UNDRESS themselves.even when a woman want to undress a man he just cannot wait . NO TIME TO WASTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the past ladies were dressed by a maid whereas gentlemen buttoned up themselves. Most people being right handed the buttons on a ladies garment were easier to close if reversed.

How many women could actually afford hand maidens? And who fastened the hand maidens' buttons? A more straight-forward and logical explanation, to my mind, would be that women's clothes generally buttoned up the back before the 20th century. Whether you got your sister or mother to button you up or else did it yourself, having them reversed was an advantage.

The real reason is that originally all shirts where made with the buttons like a women's shirt, but after years of disappointment, of men getting killed in battle due to their thumbs getting caught in the shirt as they drew their sword, a night suggested to have the buttons change, it would be an advantage, hence all male shirts across Europe where changed. this was because most men fought with their right hand.

Men's clothes buttoned across to the right so that, when drawing a sword, the hilt did not catch in the gap. I would imagine ladies clothes buttoned in the opposite manner to be different and complementary. I don't believe anything would be done just to make life easy for a servant who would learn to do what is necessary without argument.

the reason for this is boys have a penis girls have a vagina so there

it is indeed to do with the fact that women were dressed by maids and also men in the early days of wearing trousers had no zips and for ease of use they had a split with a cloth overlay and traditionally for whatever reason they placed themselves to the left so on jackets and outter garments they had right hand buttons for easier access to use the toilet .

The reason was so that a ladies maid could button certain items of clothing on the woman of the house . Therefore if she were buttoning up their coat blouse etc it would be easier if her buttons were sewn on to the left as most people were made to be right handed at the time . It would be easier for the maid to fasten them . So there you go it was done for the privileged few, and the buttons on female clothing have remained this way ever since.

The story is that men put on their own clothes, whereas women (fashionable ones, at least) dressed with the assistance of their ladies maid, who did up the buttons from the other side.

This may be just a story. Or it may be that women had the buttons put the way that implied they had a maid, whether they did or not; the less well off imitating the wealthy, even if it caused them inconvenience. Maybe it is just custom.

Comments
This was a good question and a good answer! +6 for your answer and @ sivestre +5 for the question!

Report by Zandalee.Lonely.Lunatic.3yrs-here on November 2nd, 2007
or it could be that the women had to dress the men. ;)

Report by Ciao on November 2nd, 2007
Or the men had to undress the women...

Report by Im Alec on November 2nd, 2007
Add a comment...

it is the way their brain works men on the right and woman on the left i think.

It's because of the co-ordination part of a man and woman's brain.

for men it was originally from their overcoats. when they used to wear swords on thier left side the fastening of the coat would be left over right so as to not to interfere with the sword when they had to quickly draw the sword.

So men dont put a blouse on by mistake :o)

in the middle ages people who had buttons were normally rich .in this case the women had servants to help them dress as the majority of people were right handed and the servant would normally in front of the rich woman it was easier to put the buttons on the other side

When aristocratic men and women were dressed by their servants, men tended to be dressed from the front, and right handed servants found it easier to button in the way men have them today. Women tended to have the fasteners on the back fo their clothes, so the process was reversed.

It's the other way around to make it easier for tailors. When they did their own shirts, the buttons were on the right. They could stand behind men to button up their shirts (buttons still on right) but it was seen to be inappropriate to do it to women, so they had to stand in front of them. The buttons were put on the other side (ladies left) so that they were still on the right side for the tailor!

The story about maids is similar but flawed. They could do their ladies buttons for them from the front, with the buttons on the maids right, but when they came to do their own buttons they would be the opposite way around, with the buttons on the left!! Which would make the whole 'switching to make it easier' thing a little pointless!

dont know

It is possibly the best way to differentiate between a male and female shirts. And there can be no other reasons. Right and Left are indicators whose shirts is it male or female.

Men's clothing buttons up left over right so when (in the 18th century) they drew there sword it did not snag on there clothing! Because of this it's the same reason we drive on the left!

More important than "Why it has been " is " Why it should be "
I think this is pressed on by the Clothing Faternity from a long time so that the Males and Females could not wear the same ! Means more money for the tailors !
I remember some one once saying that all cars will have the same engine one day !
I think we are pretty near to that where manufacturers are more interested in economy and survival than compitition !
In the day of equal oppotunity why not produce unisex clothing !
Wonder what the Italians and the French will say?

I think its why women wear watch on right and men wear them on their left hand.

when woman realised there are some really clumsy males, they decided to start putting their buttons on the left, so that taking their clothes off, would be quicker.

Because women are always right!!!!!!.

ITS ALL A STICH UP

Its all good and well talking about history and the 'olden' times but how many ladies have maids these days? So why carry the trend when we talk about equal liberties for men and women ha ha

Its rather ironic that at one time buttons were seen as symbols of luxury and only the 'rich' could have them on their garments, on the contrary, these days even a single button missing or out of place on a garment gives a total opposite reaction....
:-)

Because men are always right

Its an old tradition, Women just like to be difficult

So you didn't put your moms clothes on by mistake?. Although in my defence its an easy mistake to make.lol

Because their right side is disable....!! or less power

It was to assist the maids when dressing the women, must have been when women were being oppressed by the patriarchy, poor dears.

because men are far superior to women

I don't believe it's anything to do with handmaidens doing women up.

My understanding of it is that men used to button their garments up the same way, and that IT WAS MEN WHO CHANGED IT ROUND. Why? Because when the era of swordsmanship arrived, men kept catching the handle of their swords in their shirt openings as they were drawing - a quick way to die!

So, men had their shirts done up the other way round so that their drawing would be perfect and quick.

Of course, I could be wrong - but it sounds a lot better than the 'it's easier to be dressed by the handmaiden' rubbish!

In years gone by, in upper class homes boy children were helped to dress by nannies and it was easier for the nanny to fasten the buttons from the front. Girl children were expected to dress themselves!

During the Victorian era it was classed as vulgar to see inside peoples clothing and as women walked on the left side of men it stopped each one seeing the under garments by fastening the clothes this way. they also used to cover piano legs as this was thought to be vulgar too.

beause men do have their size easy than woman.and to differentite men from women

because most men are left handed

because women are two faced and like to be differantplus must have there own way or you get big tantrums

Does it matter. Be it right or left makes no difference so long as the buttons remain in tact!

its the same with a belt also

This is a throwback to a rather disturbing time in our history when the well-to-do lady of the house made no attempt to dress herself, the task was performed by a maid, since the majority were right handed (no offence intended to lefties) it made it much easier if the buttons were arranged this way.
Today there is simply no need for this practise to continue but clothing manufacturers are loath to change as most women are now used to the arrangement and a large number would have to learn using the buttons on the opposite side.

Strangely the same was true for well-to-do men but manufacturers at the time didn't see a need to make the life of a butler any easier!

Either way would of course work for either sex.

Anyone with a readily available time machine and a penchant for litigation could therefore pursue a raft of sexual discrimination cases back in the day.

I wonder how many of todays solicitors are kicking themselves?

Ladies' maids stood in front of the lady when dressing them, while valets stood behind the master, so that their master could look in the mirror. The way the buttons are done up is reversed.

19th Century Origins -- Women
Wealthy women in the 19th century had servants or handmaids who would dress their mistresses for them. Subsequently, dressmakers conformed their designs to make it easier for handmaids to assist their mistresses, putting the buttons in the position easiest for them to secure.
Button Positioning
Most people were traditionally right handed two centuries ago, making left over right the easiest way to button clothing. Female attire with buttons was therefore made right over left in order for servants to dress their mistresses with ease.
19th Century Origins - Men
Men, on the other hand, dressed themselves despite having servants and had the buttons fashioned in order to do so comfortably, assuming right handedness as well -- buttoning left over right.
Armored Inspiration
Another theory is that the first jackets made for men that buttoned were designed with a suit of armor in mind, being that armor was designed to stop a right-handed enemy from stabbing through the seam. Additionally, a man could more easily unsheathe his sword with his right hand while unbuttoning their coats with his left.
Feminine Facilitations
Alternately, left-sided buttons on female attire have been traced back to the easy facilitation of nursing babies on the left breast, closest to the heart.
Modern Standards
Today, the designs behind shirt buttons has lingered. Despite a lack of servants in most households, not to mention armory and swords, men's shirts have continued to be designed as they were traditionally.

Ladies buttons are traditionally on the left. This was specifically designed to facilitate ease of access for gentlemen who are predominantly right handed.

Why a maid, and not a man?
Men undress themselves anyway...

The system you refer to does not apply in the USA. How do you explain that. OK they didn't have maids but they had slaves.

It is a matter of control. Men have bottoms on their right side for the right hand to be free to hold the penis when urinating

The story is that men put on their own clothes, whereas women (fashionable ones, at least) dressed with the assistance of their ladies maid, who did up the buttons from the other side.

Men dress themselves, so the buttons are on the right-hand side.

Women (I should say 'rich women who lived a few hundred years ago') had someone, like a maid, to dress them. Someone standing in front of the lady would button her clothing, so the buttons should be on the maid's right-hand side. Therefore the buttons are on the left-hand side for the person wearing the garment.

This difference just became accepted in the clothing industry, and has persisted to this day (although perhaps some clothing designers like the idea of being able to take off women's clothing more easily).

from wiki.answers.com and www.answerbag.com

Same reason ladies have zips in their trousers on the hips... because its hard being a woman, apparently!

Seriously, I'd heard it was to dress them easier by their servants. Oh to be able to have a maid to dress you.

To differentiate between Men's and Women's clothes

Because they has to be always different

many years ago, people used to cary there money in a little sack,tied to the body.
as man did walk to the right side of the women, they had the right hand free to grip between the buttons in to the shirt, and women had the left free to reach there money.

This should answer your question pretty good. There is a video on this site that will help:

http://www.PrestigeEnterprises.ca

Because women have more patience and sharp brain.

This is to differentiate whether the shirts or trousers are for men or women.

The answer is simple,buttons are on the right side of a mans shirt because women are like cats[they always attack with their right paw first],So when the man comes home late it is more difficult for the woman to get her claws into the flesh.

ladies can work with their right hand and at the same time they can re arrange the under wear ,they can feed baby and also when you open the button the opening comes towards ur left side so it gives some privacy

Why is this one of the most answered questions??? Weird.

The reason woman dresses have buttons on the left, is because a long long time ago, when gentlemen gave ladies a lift on a horse, the wind will not blow in to their garment and blow it all up. Ladies used to sit sideways on horses, and not the way everybody does today. Look at the old classic movies and you will notice they sit on the horse with both feet on the same side.

The reason goes back to when men used sowrds designed with a metal bit at the sides of the handle that could catch their shirts when they pulled the sowrd out! So put designed their shirt buttons on the other side.

Because women have to breastfeed. More convenient.

all history from church and government the new there was gay men and woman to and did not want that to come to the open in that time !!!!!

to make defferent between men and womens cloth.

That have a really funny answer " Making difference between men & women shirt, the designer decided it. I think, actually there is no scientific reason for this fact."

A lot of the answers state that men drew their swords etc... that is the reason gentlemen drive on the left. it left their sword arms clear to attack their foes who, also being gentlemen, attacked from the right. It is also the reason why left handed people were distrusted. All gentlemen drive on the left of the road for this reason. It begs the question why the French and Americans chose to drive on the right?

don't know.

Servants button up their ladies buttons from the front.I.E buttons on other side to mens who button up their own.

Buttons were invented long before corsets and corsets without buttons were invented long before corsets with buttons come out and buttons were very expansive. To make this popular a good reason was needed to make having a dressing maid necessary. So Corsets with maid option became very quickly popular as it not only provided a very good reason for having the maid, also an status symbole.
Now a days due to feminent movements and GPS's ...having buttons on the others side no longer qualifies for demanding a dresser.

because women.s got boobs and men don,t it simple

Because they are retarded

The truth of the matter is, to quote professor Dickie Dorkins, the reknowned anthropologist, "women's brains are back to front".

idk

for the blind

Because of the rightsidedness/ leftsidedness of brains (gender-wise)

This goes back to the old days when a Gentleman dressed himself, but a Lady was dressed by her maid. Think about how easy it is to undo your own buttons.

its a symbile to let you know male from female garments

Men have buttons on the right side of their shirts and trousers so when men pull out their sword in the old days, the sword will not catch his shirt or trouser

as the other answers, when maids dressed the ladies and gents of a house, when dressing the ladies they would stand in front of them so buttons on the right side, and when dressing the gents they would stand behind them so it would be like dressing ones self if the buttons were on the opposite side to the women if that makes sense.

Remember the first creatures, Adam and Eve. Eve is created on the left side of Adam. That means Adam is on the right and Eve on the left, so is the buttons for male and females.
May be???

I`ve heard many times about the sword being easier to draw from the right hand side, so I`ve come to believe it sort of. What I can`t understand is, WHY does it make it easy for one woman to dress another by having the buttons on the left?!

It's because women can never think anything the right way. LOL

So that people like you who dont have a clue between the 2 no what they are doing hey get a grip !"!!

If the reason was really so the maids could dress the females then it makes it difficult for the right handed maids to dress themselves because no one will help them dress. Just my sentiments though.

^^ the first two answers are correct
beacause long ago... women were dressed by maids (usually right-handed) so they made the womens buttons on the left, whilst men dressed themselves, so they have their buttons on the right. Even though this was a long time ago womens and men clothes are still made like this to this very day :)

Is it simply to tell the difference between male and female clothing.

Is this the most answered question on here at the moment?

I have got NO CHANCE of getting best answer, even with a great answer, because of how many replies there are, so I won't bother answering!

Bugger the buttons ....what about the children???

i think it was when women had lady maids who dressed them it madeit easier to do the buttens up

brain co-ordination works differently for men and women explaining why many women need to turn maps around to read them.

because some idiot thought it would be funny

If a man is slow to give us a kiss then he is weak and milk bellied. If he grabs hold of a poor female and gives her a big forceful sloppy one, then he is a mad rapist. As soon as women found out that men were buttoning up one way, then we will have held a meeting. Buttoning up the other way will have been passed unanimously. Use your common sense !!!

Fantastic when you think about it - because of a few posh birds 100's of years ago, millions of women must nowadays suffer from attempting to dress themselves with their buttons on the wrong side

Ok here’s my half pennies worth. Since the 15th Centaury Men’s Doublets and Padded Jacks (medieval flack jacket) had buttons etc on the right so that the overlap was left to right. This reduced the chance of and arrow or weapon slipping between the folds. Remember a right handed archer/man at arms held their bow/shield in their left hand towards the enemy.

this can avoid men wearing woman's shirt or vice versa by accident

because it makes it easier for a man to undo with one hand

Men wear their shirt in hurry. They need right hands. And also, men use to put women dress off. That's why women dress have their button on left, HAHAHAHA....

good luck selecting the right answer there's hundreds

One reason could be that women spend more time in front of a mirror when dressing, so having buttons on the left means a lady can dress herself while looking in the mirror.

I have archly read all of the answers [I knead a life] & I think that the sward answer for the man & the maid answer for the lady, The sward should be on your left hip your lady on your right your sward arm in the middle of both of you [ The same way you walk down the Ilse.]

its so they can undo to feed baby while holding in left arm,as most are right handed

The generally accepted answer is the one about womens buttons being in a position for their maids to help them dress, but at the time when women had maids, men had man-servants to help them dress which kind of negates the theory. Also as late as the 40's clothing had been made with no distinction made between which sex had their buttons fastening on which side! There seems to be no real reason, its just evolved that way!

The reason the buttons are on the right for the men, is because the man is always right!!! lol.

To distinguish which garment was for male or female when clothes were of similar appearance such as coats etc.

Mens butons fasten as they do as it was for overcoats when swords were worn and the orientation of the buttons allowed the gentlemen to drawer his sword

..cuz

to allow men to get to their watch and wallet on the inside of their coat with their right hand.

Women's buttons is so that they can get dressed by their hired help and men's is so that when they draw swords, they don't rip their shirts open, seeing as most were right handed.

cos in the olden days women had maids to help them dress so the buttons were put on the opposite sides as the maids were dressing them front on -

this dates back to the days when ladies had dressers who did up the buttons.It was easier to do up the buttons while the dresser was standing in front.
while the male dressers always stood behind their master during the dressing therefore making it easier for them.Early buttons on ladies clothes had to be done up using a button hook to ease the buttons through the holes.

Because when u go shopping you can look what gander the cloth is made for like right is for boys and left side for girls?

Previous answers are absolutely right, it's all about well healed women having maids to dress them. Ladies dresses and corsets generally required 'doing up' at the back - thus a maid was necessary (unlike male clothing). Today things are changing; you'll notice when shopping some manufacturers/designers have womens 'fly fronts' to the left and some to the right. As a tailoress I have to check everytime exactly what the designers want.

It goes back to the Medieval times.
The buttons to mens shirts were placed on the left so that when the shirt was buttoned up the wearers sword handle would not get caught while drawing it from sheath on the belt.

men kept the left hand free to have quick access to their sword

Gentlemen used to dress themselves and most being right handed found it easier to fasten the buttons if the buttons were on the right.
Ladies were more usually dressed by maids, who would face their mistress when dressing them, so it was easier for them if the buttons were on the maids right, i. e. the lady's left.

That makes it awkward for left handed boys to learn to fasten buttons.

for the maids to button up and the men to OPEN

The answer is stunning.

The whole story goes back to king Henry VI, who was a disintegrated man and effectively his wife, Margaret governed rather than him. He suffered from "porphyria", a serious and successional desease (it came with the French wife of his father to the royal house). It is a recurrent illness, it attacks periodically. In its active periods the patient is malminded and -what is important for us now- his/her urine is deep blue. Margaret tried to disguise the problem, preventing Henry from getting his trousers blue, so, she insisted on an easy way to help his husband in the moments of need. But she was left-handed! This led to a right-buttoning of Henry's garment, and, at the same time, she ordered her buttons to place just opposite to it for the sake of convenience.

In the past, women couldn't dress themselves because they had very complicated outfits.( I suppose rich women did so) They all had servants who did the buttons for them So buttons were , for the servant, from left to right as looking at them, because it was the easy way, but for the woman, from right to left. Man could do it for themselves...

nonsense! it has nothing to do with ladies; it has to do with men:

back in the day when a man might have unexpectedly to grab his sword - generally with his right hand - it was practical to be able to do up his buttons quickly with the left.

To keep their clothes buttoned up.

Men have buttons on the right side of their shirts and trousers but women have them on the left, to make the differentiate between men and women clothing.

Nowt to do with maids.Its Purely because women have to be awkward + different, just to be a pest...lol.

I can't remember the true solution it goes back centuries to when buttons was invented before the days of Velcro.
But it's more traditional than using a more convinient way to identify/know who's washing your wearing as all shirts and blouses was one size years ago in old fashioned time edwardian era.

The real reason why men have their buttons on the right hand side, is that it makes it difficult for a right handed woman to undo his jacket and get to his wallet, so the moral of this is, beware of left handed women!

not too sure but i think it to shpw the defferance becouse some blouses look like shirts if you know what i mean

Agree with the need to get to a sword for men buttoning on the right. However, always thought that ladies buttoned left because the natural arm to hold a baby is the left and this enabled a cloak to be drawn round the baby to keep it warm.

A commonly held view is that women had maids and servants to dress them, whilst men dressed themselves. By reversing the buttons for a lady, the servant was buttoning the 'natural' way from their perspective.

I believe, however, that the more likely answer lies in the history of fighting and duelling. Most people (and even more so in history) are right-handed. By striking an opponent with a sword from the right hand, a shirt which buttoned on the left would leave gaps in the fabric more likely to be caught by the blade and so put the wearer at a disadvantage. As women did not duel, this was not an issue.

This fits with other sword-related traditions. We shake hands with the right hand as, with most people being right-handed it meant that the person you were being friendly to could not double-cross you and stab you with his sword.

Equally, in the House of Commons here in the UK, the front-benchers of opposing political parties must stay behind red lines in front of their seats. The lines are two sword-lengths apart, again to prevent political disagreements to descend into duelling.

Many years ago buttons were made of expensive materials such as bone, ivory , silver or even gold.
This ment that the use of buttons was resticted to the rich minority and of this minority the ladies had dressers, servants who assited then to dress. As the extravagent clothes involved numerous buttons
Ladies clothes had the buttons on the "wrong" side ( the right-hand side) to assist the predominatley right handed dressers to assist their ladies to dress.
One can only suspect that the reverse was true when the ladies met their lovers!

Who the Hell cares?

men and swords...then guns i guess. right handed majority means mens' outer clothing overlaps left over right so they can get the sword out. Not sure why female dress opposite...will have to go with the popular maid theory! buttons fairly modern in terms of fashion history. Blouses/shirts (undergarments) with buttons probably less than 200 years in common use.

its me understanding that it dates back to the knights and the need to protect the openings from the pike , lance. sword etc .. the opening of atmour was latching system and had to be place away from the danger of being penetrated whilst in battle or jousting

opposite side to determine which sex you are

most men have more power in their right hand side whereas women are opposite,therefore buttons have to be sewn in respect to their ability to do and undo them. this does not apply to left handed people.

We always do things the ''right'' way, 'ouch' my wife spotted my answer.

its easier for man to undo a woman's trousers with is right hand when trousers button on the left to slip is hand in. whilst left arm is busy.

In days of old, ladies of the house had a chambermaid to dress them. The buttons were on placed on the left side to facilitate this (they would appear to be on the right hand side of whoever was doing up the clothing)

women rights

because men used a sword and it prevented a smooth withdraw of the weapon

The reason that women have buttons on the left dates back to when women usually wealthy types had personal dressers. It was easier for the dressers to dress the women if the buttons were on the left as they were facing them.

I think the designer of female clothes was left handed and the designer of men's shirt and trousers was a right handed man, if not, biblicaly, it means both men and women needs each other's support in thier daily activities.

i dont know.but i think mens and womens use difrent sides of theire minds.

The maid theory sounds good. However, I've heard a different version. Women normally carry a baby in their left arm leaving the dominant arm (in the majority of cases) free. By having the buttons on the left hand side, the women could drape the right hand side of her coat or jacket over the baby.

Just

who cares as long as they are easily undone

who the **** cares

A gentlemans buttons are on the right side of a shirt, jacket or coat: this was to enable servants etc to be able to fasten from the front in a right to left fashion, which was easier. Women on the other hand generally dressed themselves and closed their own buttons. Over time this has remained the normal for button placement, even though nowadays, men dress themselves.

Dear Ed,

Because when men carried swords, to defend themselves,most carried their scabbard on their left hip.
It then became more convenient to have the garment fastening left over right to prevent the sword being snagged, in the buttons, when drawing.
It then became customary to attach buttons to the right side of garments and make button holes on the left.
I hope that this answers your question

Their women, they have to be different...

Cast your mind back to when the garments were first manufactured with buttons like shirts and underpants: the only weapon a man used to defend himself was a sward (no guns yet..).
Now think logically: originally all the buttons on shirts etc. were put on the LEFT side, so you can twist the button into its hole using your right hand, easy.
However, for men was a different matter: if you were a man wearing the original left buttoned shirt, diligently carrying your weapon along the left leg, ready to be taken out of its socket with the right hand ready for defence, the last thing you wanted to happen is your hand getting trapped between the buttons of your shirtin case of emergency, it could get you killed!!
The easiest solution was in fact to change the buttons from left to right on all gents garments and, there you have it problem solved.
What a life savier!
Have fun!
zia Tina

easier for your opposite sex partner to undress you.

I couldn't give a monkeys.

And what about Zips on Jackets or Jumpers ?

I must object to all this hand maiden dressing up nonsense. you are all completely wrong.

this has a simple answer...its not a long one and for the love of all that is holy please read this.

most people, including women are right handed. they therefore used to hold their babies in their LEFT arms while feeding: therefore, the buttons are designed to give easy access to the nipple, as the clothing opens in an easy flap that is also quick to close with the right- i.e. they would keep the right hand free to do other things, like opening buttons.... this is common sense to me, dont know about you...try buttoning your shirt left handed (if you are a righter) and you will see what i mean!!!!

this is universal across clothing, therefore it cannot be some silly upper class thing (ie for servants benefits) it is to help with the mothering of children that crosses all class.

I now bow and exit.

J

Men can dress without even seeing a mirror, whereas women cannot. They need either Mirror or someone else. Hence to help them see the mirror and dress properly(!). But how many are dressing now? Women of these days, like to go without one.

men's buttons were stitched on the opposite side to women in olden days as they wore their swords on their right hand side as sword fighters generally used their left hands to draw their swords they didnt want their hands to get caught in clothing as they drew their weapon to fight with...

Strange but you would never see a man in a shirt with buttons down the back?

Why then poor women's clothes are also buttoned on the left?
Maybe this is just a modern convention that just developped with the mass producing of clothes?

Ladies are lazy and had a maid whereas men did it all themselves

Why oh why do people offer such half-witted answers to questions they know nothing about?
They troop along with the old canard that the women's button are on the left to "make it easier" for their maids to dress them. You what? In the days of servitude did the masters - OK in this case the mistresses - do things to help the servants? Like make the chimneys bigger to stop the sweep's boy being trapped - or avoid stepping in puddles so the boot-black didn't have extra work?
Get real.

In the past when men carried swords they invariable used their right hand to draw the weapon & use it

more men are right handed

Cheating really my answer wouls have been the one about maids dressing ladies but i just have to say how much i enjoyed the answers everyone gave, thanks folks for cheering what has been a bit of a bad week.....no wonder my love life sometimes moves slowly im left handed!!!

It,s because if they where the same, it would mean that women think reasonable and sensible and they dont do that.

It's a fact of life, get used to it

by Im Alec on November 2nd, 2007
.The story is that men put on their own clothes, whereas women (fashionable ones, at least) dressed with the assistance of their ladies maid, who did up the buttons from the other side.

This may be just a story. Or it may be that women had the buttons put the way that implied they had a maid, whether they did or not; the less well off imitating the wealthy, even if it caused them inconvenience. Maybe it is just custom.

women used to be dressed by their lady in waiting. most people where right handed. therefore, womens buttons are on the left.

I don't know, but no one seems to be complaining!! :D

Because in the past ladies had personal maids to dress them, lace up their stays, and do up their buttons and other fastenings; it would be easier for the maid if the buttons were the other way round from those on men's clothes.

But am I right in saying that on shirts and blouses for both men and women, if there is a single breast pocket, it is always on the left?

Geoffrey at <[email protected]>

Men's coats etc had their buttons on the left as the majority are right handed,so that upon drawing their swords the hilt would not catch in their coat flap.Also the flap helped to prevent right handed sword/knife thrusts penetrating between the buttons.

the buttons on women's clothing used be the back to make it easier to do up the blouse tailors put the buttons on the left

idd say it was more basic than that.Id expect it was so mothers could dress their little boys as they'd need hellp while little girls would want to dress themselves ( generally speaking )

So that it would be much easier for men to undress them... Because as we all know men in general have difficulties with manual jobs!!!

so that men can undress women easily while having intimacy. Women back then were less active in intimacy like today's women

totell the difrence

Majority of men are left handed compared to women who are right handed. therefore it is easier for each gender to use their most comfortable hand to close there buttons.

It was to do With when Men wore Swords = Most People are right Handed - so as the Sword was normally drawn with that hand a Mans coat or Outer Garment needed to afford easy access to enable the Sword to be Drawn with ease in the case of suddenly being confronted by a Robber = This was before the Time of Sir Robert Peel and the invention of the Police Force.

I was always told that men have buttons on the left so that their clothes did not snag when drawing a sword. Most europeans are right handed so would have the sword on their left hand side. This is the same reason why spiral staircases twist the way they do in old buildings ie the right (sword hand) is away from the central pillar for a defender being forced up the stairs.

Women used to get dressed by their maids and therefore the buttons are on the wrong way round so that it would be easy for the maids to do up the buttons.

It made for accessing ones sword so much easier. Right handed, sword on left, hand slides easily in between the coat overlap.

I seem to remember that the women originally had their buttons on the left side so that a right-handed maid, who would be facing their mistress to dress her, would be more easily able to fasten the buttons.

And, I seem to remember that the reason men's buttons were on the right was because: a/ they generally dressed themselves and b/ while their left hand would be fastening or unfastening the buttons, their right hand was free to use their sword or gun if need be.

The question isn't "Why did men and women historically have their buttons on opposite sides?", the question is "Why DO they still have it that way?". The best answer I can think of is that the man can do up his buttons with one hand, the woman can do up her buttons with the other, and both still have a hand free to meet in the middle.

your all wrong .... its so women can lay back and think of engand or who ever while the man sits astride the woman and unbuttons her clothing

it is to know if it is a girls top or boys because it is more likely that girls will become left handed and boys right handed when they are older

Who cares

Pretty obvious: Most men are right-handed; reason must be so partners / husbands can lend a helping hand!

I heard that it's because it makes it easier for women to undo buttons to breast-feed.

I think it was actually easier for men to undress the ladies ............

you suck

Beacuse all women on earth are left handed.
im such a genius...Thanks!

This is to make it easier for blokes to undress women.

I think to be easy for men to take her clothes off when he whant to sleep with her.

so they dont get their clothes mixed up :-)

Because women just like to be as akward as possible. x

After reading all the answers to this question I have the following thoughts:

1. Although it sounds plausible for our current time back in the days when buttons were invented I highly doubt they gave a **** about their servants having to button from left to right. They barely fed them let alone change their fasion sense for their slaves.

2. There were no female tailors back in those days so more then likely, even though quite rude, men probably did design these buttons so that they could get into the dresses more easily, even if their Politically Correct argument at the time for doing so was to save the servants precious fingers.

3. A further question - Buttons have been around for 3000 years and were used to fasten clothes by the greeks back prior to 1200AD when buttons finally came to Europe. What time period did this fad of buttons being opposite for men and women begin?

Thanks,

James

The men and women´s buttons do up differently because of practical reasons. The answer is in the history of the clothes and what would make them easier and more comfortable to use.

The buttons appeared in XVII century. In the beginning they were used only on the clothes of rich and wealthy men and their wives.
Most of the men were right-handed and drawn the sword from the left hip. Doing like that the right hand would be less likely caught in a right-sided buttons shirt.
Having the buttons from the right made the right-handed self-dressed men to use them easily.

In XVII century it was a custom in rich families the women to have servants to dress them. The buttons on their clothes were on the left to make it easy for the right-handed servant to dress them.

Long time ago when ladies employed nannies and women to dress them the buttons for their blouces and other garments were on the left to make it easier for the nannies and women to do the buttons because they would be to their right.
Years have gone by and they have never bothered to change.

When women were dressed by their maids it was easier for the maids to do up buttons that faced their right.

I had Absolutely no-idea they did.
I wonder why I Always found doing my shirts up easier than wife's dresses...

early part of the century gentlemen carried handguns inside their jackets and as the majority of people are right handed could reach inside the jacket with their good hand easily

Men and women predominately use either the left side of the brain more or the right side of the brain. I am not sure if its right for women or men, or left for women or men.

The buttons are also on the same side on tunics and greatcoats to allow men to draw thier sword or pistol

I think it is to do with the fact that the gentleman's sword is worn on the left side. Thus when drawing the sword in emergency you are less inclined to be hampered by the fastenings of your coat etc.
It is interesting that this wearing of the sword on the left meant that the lady who was always on the Gentleman's left effectively hid the fact that he was armed and also that his sword hand/arm were free for immediate action.

it is to differentate men and women

Why doesn't yahoo just give the answer instead of making people guess? Why do they ask stupid questions and not know the answer for it and still call it "yahoo answers"? I got a new topic..."why does Yahoo call it "yahoo answers" and not "yahoo questions"?

Because women usually have longer finger nails then men i always though men and women had the same buttons but i didn't know that men and women have different buttons.

This question must first be clarified: buttons on clothing in Europe is on a different side to clothing in the USA.

Swords were generally worn outside of coats.
May it be something to do with traits and characteristics of the sexes.
I had always assumed it was cultural and to do with why boys hair is usually parted towards the right(or from the left side) and girls hair to the left (or from the right side).
Any sense in this; or further information?

Well here we are all pondering about the left side button. Its a simle rule of thumb.. if women needed someone to dress them then maybe in victorian times some women needed to be undressed by a stirdy right handed man after several gins down the old tavern in shoreditch.
Nothing has really changed of course today aprt from the intervention of the boob tube and of course buttons that dont stay on during the midst of making bacon.....

Vive la difference!!

Buttons started appearing on clothes in the early 1600's in Europe then quickly became the preferred closure - it has something to do with the wearing of the sword and whether you were right handed.

that is for the prupose of differentiating men and womens' clothing.

To make it less confusing for men to undress women, its true, we did it at shool

Eve was lefy handed !

because men are back to front to women!

Ladies buttons are lighter and it's easier that way

because they have small lady brains

The answer is obvious. As we all know women live in front of a mirror and can't get away from it, so they see everything the wrong way around, semantically. So the buttons are put on the left so they can see them on the right,

This is so that you will know whether you're marrying a man or a woman on your wedding day. It's all obselete now as everyone is AC DC.

The button side was done as a defensive measure. A gentleman would walk with a lady on his left arm so as to leave his right sword arm free, the sword being on his left and thus between them. Should the sword need to be drawn quickly the hilt, and possibly basket, would not get caught on clothing.

This old chestnut keeps appearing and continues to fox a lot of people.
It's rather like the quandry of whether you prefer white or brown bread - the answer to that depends, of course, of whether you went to the bakery on a bicycle or on foot.
Is it time for my tea yet?

Some of you are partly right. The reason is religious! In Leviticus (a book in the Old Testament), it was stated that no man should wear the clothes of a woman or vice-versa. Our highly devout great great great great grandparents didn't want to fall foul of this, and so to make sure, they put buttons on different sides of garments! The reason for the particular choice may well have been because of the man's sword arm, and also because the right side was seen as the more pure, (left translates as sinister in Latin, and even became associated with the devil!)

its because in the older time it was the tradition for the rich women that servents dressed them.so for the convinience of servents the bottons placed on the left side. Another reason is that the right side of the female brain is more active then males whic effects the left side of the body.so there is tendency in the females to put things on the left sides mostly.

Because when man &moman come face to face they will find work easier to them

right hand for sword

Buttons were not the only thing that was left over right for boys, back in the 'old' days (30's and 40's)
boys hair was always parted on the left and girls on the right.

Way back in Medieval times, women did not usually dress themselves. They had handmaids to help them. Therefore the dressmakers designed the garments so the buttons were in the proper position for the dressers, the person USING the buttons. The tradition continued throughout the ages and even into today's styles.

i think it has something to do with men of yore who carried swords - i remember someone talking about the sword being worn on the left hip and men reached with their right hand to draw it. i think it somehow emanated from that but i can't for the life of me figure it out now!

if not that - could it be for military dress reasons?

why women button to the opposite side has been stumped.

sorry, i'm no help whatsoever!

I think it is a sign, for men must know this is a women's shirt because men can't wear momen's shirts unless you are gay but women can wear and they are broad to wear men's shirts

Because women are all left handed spawns of satan

Buttons are on the left for ladies as in days of old they were dressed by a ladies maid or servant who therefore worked from the opposite side as they faced them

Or could it be for men to undress woman easier?! ;-)

maybe women traditionally did mens buttons up therefore it is reversd to womens side

Gentlemen should always walk with their lady on their left hand side so that they are better able to defend her with their right arm (practice established in the days before politically correct idealism dictated that allowances had to be made for left handed men - it was assumed men were right handed).

Therefore it is easier for a man to button up or unbutton clothing with his right hand and 'left over right' fastening allows that.

The woman's right arm, however, will be encumbered by the proximity of her man so her right hand merely has to place the right side hem of her dress over the left side hem and her unencumbered left hand can then tackle the buttoning and unbuttoning even though it may not be her hand of first choice.

Im not sure but maybe it has something to do with the different make up of the male and female brains!

Menes buttons were on the right to make it easier for a right handed man to draw a sword

Most men are right-handed and they could retrieve their gun quicker

To make differential between man cloths and woman cloths

Because its the oly time men are going to be RIGHT about anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so you can tell the difference in male female

Gentlemen dressed themselves whereas ladies were dressed by their maids. The maids dressed the ladies to the left as they were looking at the lady, which appeared as the right when the lady and gentleman were standing side by side

For the same reason why women wear the wrist watch on the RIGHT arm!?

i therefore suspect that the 'maid' is also the reason why men's and women's belts are also differently tied.

I once looked this up on the net and the answer I got was the maid's one.

Why this anachronism still survives, I really don't know.

maybe it's to alert you to the fact you are about to cross dress :)

to help the maid to dress the lady (good idea, only if the maid was right handed)

A gentleman always walk in the right side of a woman in a polite society. Therefore, he can't see the woman chest if the woman shirt buttons on the left. It does the same with the man. The woman who walks in his left can not see the man chest because of his button's shirt on the right. It will minimise the sexual abuse between them. Try it!

The age of chivalry decided which side men's clothing was fastened e.g. it was assumed that all men were right handed (strong right hand) and therefore man needed to reach his sword with his right hand from his scabbard on the left. Ladies always walked to the left of her man to keep his right hand free for any immediate challenge. Also if a dagger was concealed in the mans shirt he needed to reach inside with no problem with his right hand, hence buttons on the right. Ladies it was assumed were the weaker sex and were left handed so their buttons were fitted on the left

Because, left sided people were condidered to be possessed in the middle ages, and the majority of those people found to be evil were....men! it was therefore considered to be a test of cleanliness if you could button up a right handed shirt, which if you were left-handed you obviously could not, therefore you were evil!!! (A bit like the water test wherby if you sank if thrown into a river whilst bound and gagged, you were possessed by evil spirits, so they let you drown. Have you tried doing this to see if you float?) So in other words, if you were left handed in the Middle Ages, you were evil. This continues to some establishments in the present day, where if you were naturally left-handed at school, the teacher would tie the left hand behind your back, or rap you across the knuckles of your left hand if seen using it, to force you to use the right hand. And that's where it all eminated from, the good old Middle Ages. Thank-You, Thank-You.

Because men are always right?

it was assumed that since the majority of people are right handed the buttons should be on the left hand side of the shirt; men dressed themselves whereas noble ladies were dressed by maids so the buttons appeared on the left so that their right handed maids could fasten them

In Victorian times, a Lady had women in waiting to help button up their attire. It was a time when right-handedness was the accepted norm of society. This led to buttons being placed on the left side of women's attire. A man, on the contrary was deemed independent and capable of buttoning up his own shirts.

I think it is just to make something else more differcult for us women!!!!!!!!!!!

It's easier to unbutton when attire is removed = All down to sex and desire

so maids can dress women

I DON'T KNOW WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME

Some time ago... Woman used to be dressed by their maids, or Nanny's.. and men used to dress them selves.. It was to make it easier for the "Dresser" ..

In the olden days, men were able to quickly disrobe their girlfriends and wives. Women, started putting buttons on the other side of their garments to frustrate their male counterparts by prolonging the experience.

so women can unbutton men shirt easily and men can unbutton women shirt easily before they start doing love

It is because women are retarded and they have brain size of the squirrel, it is proven by scientists.

The reason men have buttons are on the right and women s are on the left is because of how men and women carried weapons and concealed weapons throughout history. Most men are right handed and wore swords on the left. as a result a man who is escorting a woman should walk along the pavement on the right hand side of the woman and he should walk next to the curb. this is because then he can walk arm in arm with the woman and still have his right hand free to draw his sword. He is next to the curb to protect the women from being splashed by passing carriages. In this situation the woman is also free to draw either a concealed weapon or if needs be the gentleman s sword with her left hand.

Sword design was itself highly influenced by fashions in society. Once it became fashionable to wear button up jackets rather than cloaks. the carrying of swords had become virtually obsolete by this time both men and women still needed and carried concealed knives and pistols as well as sword sticks and sword umbrellas for personal protection. It was therefore necessary to allow easy access for the right hand of the gentleman into his jacket to draw a pistol or knife. likewise a lady may need to reach inside her coat with her left hand to draw a concealed weapon she would not be able to do so with her right hand because her arm would be interlocked with her male escorts and so she would find it difficult to use this hand if she was attacked and needed to defend herself. for anyone who doubts that this is the correct answer visit the royal armories in Leeds Great Britain and see ther excellent display of early concealed firearms etc.

In the old days women had someone to help them get dressed.

The explanation I was given for why women's button are on the left is that this allowed them to breastfeed, while holding the baby on the left, thus leaving the right arm free to work (yes, there was a time when women were real multi-taskers...).

Men's buttons are on the right because they are easier to button that way, at least if you are right-handed.

This explains why my maid is still struggling to do my shirt up, as she is right handed. Should I wear women's shirts to make it easier for her?

Mens buttons are so they do not hinder you when draw your Sword e.g. does not snag in clothing, the ladies way is easier to button up
Roger

I thought you were going to tell me.How do I know about buttons?Do I look like a bloke who knows button secrets?

In the past wealthy ladies had maids to help them dress whilst men dressed themselves. It is more convenient for right-handed people to button themselves when the buttons are on the right and for people dressing others to have the buttons on the left.

i feel women most often needed and still need their husbands and/or maids to aid them button up, unlike men who would always do it themselves as they are always in a rush. thus, considering that its easier to button up dresses with buttons to the right, women's buttons were made to the left such that the man/maid facing her would have them to the right and the job easily done. ooopppppsss, still funny to me. the question.

It originally meant men are right (right handed) and women are wrong (left handed).

because women used to have dressers , so the person dressing the lady was right handed

To put a difference them

ALL WRONG, when men were more respected and were usually the only ones to go out and work we would usually be dressed by our wives (or if we had to dress ourselves), then the buttons would be easy to do and with our wives so used to doing our buttons up when they actually got to use buttons for themselves they put them on the opposite side cos that's what they were used to.

Couldn't it be just merely a way to differentiate between clothes for men and clothes for women?

so you can tell a difference which is ladies and which is mens i think :s

It really does not matter, I have a Cherokee jacket from the 1800`s (and it`s still good to wear) and that fastens the same way as the Lady's in the U.K do.
I would like to think that different parts of the World don't fasten clothing the way we do, that's if they make their own clothing.
But you could say that everyone who wears clothing of the peg or shelf are all dressing the way of the Taiwanese??
Because it say so on the Labels AT THE BACK. LOL LOL.
Have a Great Weekend......

From the sounds of it .. after reading all this - it sounds like its yet another benefit for the men,.. Easy to dress themselves, and easier to undress the woman :)..

It is a Middle Ages fashion originating in Spain; this because men used to carry a hidden dagger under the shirt, so as to pull it out rapidly the opening of the shirt had to be to the right of the body; on the other hand women didn't carry daggers so had the opening on the left.

Because men are always RIGHT

Does it really matter?

In the days of sword fighting most people were right handed and it was easier with buttons on the right hand side for men to gain access to their swords in a hurry.

As for women on the other side, probably as we know, just to be contrary.

Gentlemen were handed their clothes by their attendant and dressed themselves but ladies were dressed by their maids hence the buttons & holes being on the opposite side for ease of use by the right handed maid.

Men used to be dressed by a manservant whereas women dressed themselves, hence buttons on different sides.

This is to do with the buttons not being against the grain for when you draw a sword. A right handed man will draw a sword from the left and the buttons will be on the right side of a shirt so the overlap will be with the direction of the sword when it is pulled out of its sheath.

at time when buttons were used instead of ties or belts most people were right handed and it was easier to do buttons up that way.Men at that time dressed themselves so their clothes were made with the buttons on the right and eyelets on the left. Women of class or wealth were usually dressed by hand-maidens or servants, and as they were mostly right handed it was easier for the buttons to be on the left of the womans clothes so that a servant could do them up using their right hand.

You tell me. Thought women wanted to be different. Now they don't. WOMEN

That one's easy so men can undo the blouse in double quicktime.

The aristocracy men was clad by servants --and to make it easier for the servants that stand in front of the gent --the button hole was reversed so that the servant can use the same fingers to push the button through the button hole. Ladies had many more buttons than gents in those days.

A man invented this To make easy for men to undress them later on..

Alot of guessing brings about funny ideas but if you want the truth! It's because flat chested women in those days could be mistaken for men. To prevent getting slapped across the face from coppin a feel to see for sure, it was decided to have buttons placed on the opposite side from the mens. Many one eyed men became pirates back then wearing the eye patch. Loose baggy bottoms weren't worth checking out. Now, aren't you glad you read this? [ wink' ]

dont know

what a random question. He he

It makes it easier for men to remove women's blouses (unless they are wearing them themselves!

Its rather easy to answer...its so that men don't put on ladies clothes by mistake. and vice versa...all this tosh about maids etc..pah....imagine having terrible eyesight and popping into your good lady wifes favourite top..not good dear fellow not good...chuckle..

it was originally invented by the Africans in the late 18th century somewhere in the BINI KINGDOM

For men to draw their swords easily, i repeat, their swords!

probably the same reason men and women are supposed to have separate masculine/feminine characteristics: to discriminate between men and women. likewise trouser flies and accepted bodily hair regarding the genders.

What a stupid question lets get back to john terry its much more important

This is due to men servants dressing the gents while facing them many moons ago

So that when you are getting dressed quickly in the dark (escaping an angry husband). You aint caught running up the street in womans jeans and a blouse.

so if the button were on the left for women to be dressed by their maids i wonder who used to dress the maids? or were the maids naked? or were the maids not allowed to have buttons on their clothes? I wonder if the maids had maids too

As men owed to have maids to do ti for them. therefore it would be the right way round for the maid who is buttoning it up

A lot of these traditions go back centries, whether it was for maids to dress their Mistress or easier for men to draw their sword in battle, or make it harder to be injured in battle. It is facinating, the simple button can have such a colourful history. It does surprise me however that zips are also the same way and I am not sure they were invented then !!

In a mass orgy you could tell if your with a man or a woman when it was [email protected]

Beau Brummel insisted mens buttons should be on the right.

Women's clothes button from the left because Queen Victoria was left handed.

They used to be interchangeable

Its obvious! So that lesbians can undress each other easily! Doh!

HERE IS A ANOTHER QUESTION WHY DO MEN AND WOMEN HAVE BUTTONS ON THE JEANS AND ALSO A ZIP.?? WELL I DONT HAVE A CLUE TO THE FIRST ONE BUT THE SECOND I WOULD OF THOUGHT FOR THE MEN ITS A QUICKER TO GO TO THE TOILET BUT ON THE OTHER HAND FOR THE LADIES THATS WERE THE DRAW BACK LIES.?

When I was in school I was told that the men's buttons are the way they are because men could draw their swords more easily with them that way (right hand for sword, left hand for buttons) whilst women could undo their buttons easier for breast-feeding if they were the opposite way. This all worked on the assumption that no-one was left handed as I am.

All the answers concerning women having maid servants to help dress them doesn't make much sense to me. As a left-hander I would find it easier to fasten another lady's buttons if I were facing them but a right hander would find it harder to do up someone else's buttons but find their own easier. Try it and see.

I can fasten men's buttons (providing I'm wearing the garment) far more easily than my own.

so that both men and women know what sex they are for.

So that when you get dressed in the dark you know if you've put your wife's blouse on.

because I dont know

To make it difficult for left-handed men to open buttoned flies!

It makes no difference for Men whether Women have buttons on Right or Left side. After all Men have to open the buttons fast without wasting time.

when they were making love it was easier for a man to take a lady's clothes off as lady's
were to shy,and the men took off there own clothes.
This started in late 1800 Hds if I remember right.

I suppose men being more the left hand of their brains functioning more efficiently, thus it controls the right hand. Good tactile grip on the right. Women on the other hand have the opposite, they would control the left better and why not use it to the utmost?

In the past, only ladies (class, means or status) wore blouses with buttons. Ladies had to be dressed by a maid and it was more convenient to place the buttons on the left so the buttons are on the right to the maid while facing the lady she is dressing. Other so called women wore blouses and dresses with no buttons. The men dressed themselves.

its undefined

The positioning of the buttons on women's clothing was to make it easier for them to be dressed

Originally mens shirts pulled on over the head with one or two buttons at the top they could button themselves using one hand if required (being right handed). The women had maids who used a button hook held in the right hand to button the ladies dress or corset therefore pulling from the left through the button hole to the right.

The question should be why do women who have small hands have big buttons and their coats and men who have larger hands have small buttons???

is anybody really bothered?

i dont no lol x

Men where shirts and women wear blouses

Buttons are on the right hand side of shirts as historically when men wore swords they were worn on the left hand side of the body, when a sword was drawn with the right hand, across the chest if the buttons had opened on the left there was the possibility of the hilt of the sword being caught in the opening.

because men have one side of the brain more active and women have the other side more active

Because, I think men can only do it from the right side as they are vulnarable from the left

Cos women are left brain. They cant use right hand.

They were all supposed to be on the right but girls unfortunately didn't know their left from their right; through education, the help of shoe manufacturers to put L and R on shoes and also C&A selling knickers girls have been much more accurate in their directions.

It has to do with breastfeeding of infants

It was to make it easier for gentlemen to assist their good ladies with getting dressed, because up until 1845 women didn't have hands at the end of their arms, only very small cauliflowers, and the florets made it near impossible to push the thrupenny sized fastening device through it's corresponding slit or hole.
This poor disability did lead to something positive though, with a certain Miss Sharon Pullover inventing a range of clothes that could be slipped over ones head quite easily whether your a man or woman with cauliflower hands. On the downside, this did lead to a drop in sales of buttons in Great Britain, and was believed to have been the cause of The Great Famine in Ireland.

While I'm sure it's as many others have already said that men dressed themselves where as women were dressed by maids I much prefer the notion that it's so that men can easily take off women's clothes with far more ease... that said the argument is somewhat flawed when you take the bra into account...

Its all very simple really, its about teddy bears as they dont have buttons its not a problem to them. I think this is as good an answer as any. As teddybearworld will confirm, dont forget the .org.uk bit.

Woman are mainly left handed and men are right handed so it makes it easier to to do up buttons to the corresponding Stronger hand

for fear of having a hit put out on me.....men are always.....you've got it.....RIGHT

so that men can easily unbutton womens top hahaha

because women where dressers and the dresser faces the women therefore the buttons are on the right hand of the dresser

good lord!! Its actually because of the human brain. Men are left brain dominant so the buttons are on the right and woman and right brain dominant so that is why they are on the left! Its a hand eye co-ordination based in the fashion world!

The reason the buttons on woman’s clothing are on the opposite side to men’s is so that it makes it easier for the man to get her out of her clothes quickly and efficiently, Hence less time undressing her and more time to take what’s his,

Well!
It is easier for a man to disrobe a woman if the position of their buttons reflect his own.

Fantastic answer ANN but yes i believe that the buttons are on the left for women because the wealthy women had maids to dress them and it was easier for them.

Handbags. Women carry them in the right hand generally, so the left hand is free for buttons

It stems from the days when men had a gentleman's man to dress them. It's easier to fasten men's buttons from the onlooker's position.

Women are the weaker sex and men are the stronger sex. Left is the weaker hand and Right hand is the stronger hand. Your left side represents your female relations and the right side your male relations.

because men and women are different.and i say most of men are left hand

ITS TO DO WITH RIGHT BRAIN AND LEFT BRAIN. Men are more right brain orientated creativity and chaotic while women are left brain more logical and in-order,so both will be able to button up faster

The buttons used to be on the same side. The men had them put on the other side as not to snag their sword in their clothing when drawn ad thus giving an advantage to their enemy.

i do not know why?

i just love jimbo jones answer.. very humerous

Because its to show the opposite Sex Like Its just how its made..
Like in different countrys they have the drivers side on the left and in other places its on the right they just want to show thats its different also its to show if u are wearing a ladies or a man shirt lool

Most men are right handed. Men open their trouser buttons/zip before urinating. If the access was from the left this would make the job more fiddly (use the left hand or pull the fly fabric out of the way). Access from the right keeps it nice and easy.

it would be handy for me cause i'm a lefty. unfortunately i have pairs of jeans that do up both ways so it sort of proves that's its not done so much anymore and so rather redundant ;p

Becuase men need to unbutton women to have a ****

Men like to do things the simple, straightforward way; women always like to consider the opposing angle.

I don't have a clue!

because women are lazy farts who need others to do everything for them.

According to Vedic principles (according to His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) when a person performs an asana (yogic posture/stretch) which has a left/right distinction, then a women begins with the left, and goes on to the right, and a man begins with the right, and goes on to the left. Cultural influence coming from the East to the West has often been overlooked, due in part to imperialist ambitions, the same imperialist ambitions which tricked the world for many years into believing that the Vedas originated outside India - an blatent attempt to strip the Indians of their pride and validify their enslavement. Science has always been held hostage to national interest. It still is. To say that science these days is corrupted by economic interest, is to say the same thing. However there is a wealth of evidence for international co-operation and influence right back to the beginning of human history. Linguistically the same words come up for key objects in thousands of languages across the world; and trade routes are constantly having to be reassessed due to artifacts being unearthed. It is obvious to anyone who has a knowledge of ancient medicine, West and East, that the whole of modern medicine, through Hippocrates, originates in the Vedas. Why should it be so surprising if the Vedic influence was there at a time when buttons were evolving? Springs to mind the word suture, a Sanscrit word. The Chambers dictionary makes a link with Latin but stops there, not going back to it's origins in Ancient India. Nothing is sacred. Knowledge is fragmented. Until one has the whole picture, and desires knowledge above self-conceit, even our bastions of knowledge will be bent.

I dont know

All the answers appear to be Anglo-centric. What happens in other button-using societies? Are the French just as cussed on this matter as they are on others? How about Chinese, Amerindians and others?

A cave-dwelling friend says that in the Stone Age right-handed men wore their animal skins by pulling them on over their left shoulders: hence the eyeholes appeared on the left and became the standard place for receiving toggles, buttons etc. Simple, isn't it?

both men and woman are clever in diffenent ways

What is it. This is because it is easy to the woman put the zippers mens down.

Because in the past it was a common feature for the woman to button up the shirt of either her husband or her son. Men and boys allowed them to do it.

So that men don't struggle to take women's clothes off!!! :-)

Because most men 'dress' to the right of course!

Strange! So it was for the lady's maid?!
Here I was thinking that the left-handed buttons would make it easier for the object of the lady's affections to help them remove their clothing, when quick action was required. Perhaps for a quick roll in the hay prior to meal time, etc.

some women had people to dress them and it is easier that way for the buttons

my own theory is that as a gentleman walks closest to the traffic when walking a young lady it was for modesty purposes as if she gaped or even had a button undone from his side he would not see anything he shouldn't have and vice versa

As a way of distincting men's shirt from women's.Men are also more superior and always right.

The only credible explanation I have heard is this:

Most people are right handed, so the buttons should be manipulated with the right hand.

Men dress themselves, so the buttons are on the right-hand side.

Women (I should say 'rich women who lived a few hundred years ago') had someone, like a maid, to dress them. Someone standing in front of the lady would button her clothing, so the buttons should be on the maid's right-hand side. Therefore the buttons are on the left-hand side for the person wearing the garment.

This difference just became accepted in the clothing industry, and has persisted to this day (although perhaps some clothing designers like the idea of being able to take off women's clothing more easily).

Because, In the beginning GOD after He created everything, He created Adam! GOD saw Adam was lonely, He decided to give him a helper by creating Ave from "the left side of Adam's rib". He loved and blessed them. He told Adam to be the leader of Ave and Ave to listen and follow Adam. They loved and take care of each other.

I believe that in the days when clothing was pinned rather than buttoned, men were able to tuck their sword/weapon hand inside to keep it warm and limber. Similarly, it was easier for women to hold baby whilst using dominant hand to fiddle with clothing for breast-feeding. Both presume right-handedness to be the norm, since left-handedness was frowned upon (hence the connotations of words such as 'sinister', 'gauche', and so on).

Because men are always right.

It makes it easier for men to remove womens clothes and vice versa..simple!

Just women need feed BABY. and for men right hand - keep sword .

Fact: most people are right handed !
a breast feeding mother would find the LEFT handed button easier to undo when holding baby in/on their right arm.
Similar question is "why do we drive on the right".
Again RIGHT handed "Swordsmen" on horseback would have had a stronger/more acurate right arm slashing movement forwards over the horse towards the oncoming target than a WEAKER left arm.

Men will hold women on their left side, so in case of opens a bit or one of the button off, men can not see the boobs freely..

because women are bl**dy awkward ?

who cares?

Its because men use their right hands more often than women,and women are mostly left handed!

becouse men are always right that's why there buttons are on right side

Because most men are right handed!

Actually the reason has nothing to do with women or their maids. The answer is to do with men and a mirror! When a man dresses himself it is easier for him to dress in front of a mirror with the buttons appearing on the left. Try it!. You see he then remembers where he was the previous night and how much he drank :).

women usually have long nails

STATISCALLY MORE WOMEN ARE LEFT HANDED THAN MEN.

Like everything else, women received help, YES even with clothing themselves.

Talk-about womens rights? why do they still have buttons on left-side?
why have buttons at all should all be velcro, easy to do up-or down?

....may be so that we can differentiate either it is for men or women????

So that when women look in the mirror they can for once feel equal to men

dont really know, i have never thought about it, but would be interesting to find out why.

Its not so they can be dressed easier, its so men (or other women!) can undress them quicker

I think its the same reason why traffic was on the right side of the road originally and then swiched to the left :)

I thought it was to stop my girlfriend from nicking my gear..................

Tbecause women use their hands differently

because it helps woman in breast feeding...

Because tailors put them on the left for women and the right for men, obviously!

perhaps to cover the upper private parts