Fig. 7.—Woman’s dress showing buttons on the left side.
The woman, on the other hand, puts her right thumb through the buttonhole, takes hold of the button with the fingers of the same hand, and finally, if the other hand is at liberty, brings it up to finish the process. (See Figures [6] to [11].)
To explain the difference in the position of the buttons is not by any means easy. In the correspondence which has arisen out of lectures which the writer has given on the evolution of dress, it has, in the first place, been suggested that the arrangement of his clothing permitted a man to thrust his right and fighting arm into his jacket in order to keep it warm. This explanation, of course, does not account for the variation in the case of women.
Dr. Lyman, of Baltimore, has submitted the theory that a man wearing a loose cloak, toga, or plaid, would grasp it with the left hand and thrust the left side over the right so as to leave the right-hand free in order to hold a weapon or implement. A woman would grasp her attire with her right hand, and push it over the left side and leave her left arm unencumbered, wherewith to carry a child. It would, however, seem more natural for the right side to be pulled over the left, but it is unlikely that a man would fight in a loose cloak, and the toga was only worn in times of peace. Moreover, the jacket, as we have seen, was developed from the cloak through the tunic. A tunic was worn under the toga, and as the only loose edge of the latter lies in the same way as the buttonhole side of a man’s coat, it is feasible that the edges of the tunic beneath would for convenience be made to lap the same way.
Fig. 8.—First stage. Fig. 9.—Second stage.
Diagrams showing how a man does up a button.