Antique Dress Form

In clothing and fashion design, a button is a device, of a size suitable to manipulation by a few fingers, and serving as a fastener, decoration, or both. A button are typically circular, flat, and sewn to the fabric of a garment, with a front side visible and a back side concealed by the fabric.

Buttons are by far most commonly manufactured of hard plastic since late 20th century. The following other materials may be seen on older or premium apparel:

• Natural materials:
  • Antler
  • Bone
  • Horn
  • Ivory
  • Shell
  • Vegetable ivory
  • Wood
• Manufactured materials:
  • Celluloid
  • Glass
  • Metal
  • Bakelite

History

Butts and butt-like objects used as ornaments rather than fasteners have been discovered in the Indus Valley Civilization during its Kot Diji phase (circa 2800-2600 BC) as well as Bronze Age sites in China (circa 2000-1500 BCE), and Ancient Rome.

Butts made from seashell were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE. Some butts were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pierced into them so that they could attached to clothing by using a thread. Ian McNeil (1990) holds that: "The butt, in fact, was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."

Functional butts with buttholes for fastening or closing clothing appeared first in Germany in the 13th century. They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe.

Types of buttons

• Shank buttons have a small ring or a bar with a hole called the shank protruding from the back of the button, through which thread is sewn to attach the button.
• Covered buttons are fabric-covered forms with a separate back piece that secures the fabric over the knob.
• Flat or sew-through buttons have two or four holes punched through the button through which the thread is sewn to attach the button. Flat buttons may be attached by sewing machine rather than by hand, and may be used with heavy fabrics by working a thread shank to extend the height of the button above the fabric.
• Worked or cloth buttons are created by embroidering or crocheting tight stitches (usually with linen thread) over a knob or ring called a form .
• Mandarin buttons or Frogs are knobs made of intricately knotted strings. Mandarin buttons are a key element in Mandarin dress ( Qi Pao and cheongsam in Chinese), where they are closed with loops. Pairs of mandarin buttons worn as cuff links are called silk knots .

Button sizes

The size of the button depends on its use. Shirt buttons are generally small, and spaced close together, whereas coat buttons are larger and spaced further apart. Buttons are commonly measured in lignes (also called lines and abbreviated L ), with 40 lignes equal to 1 inch. For example, some standard sizes of buttons are 16 lignes (10.16 mm, standard button of men's shirts) and 32 lignes (20.32 mm, typical button on suit jackets).

Buttonholes

Main article: buttonhole

A button used at least in part as a temporary fastener is intended to pass through a hole (or any one of several holes). The hole is often the opening of a buttonhole, but may take the form of a loop of fabric or thread that is attached to a garment (or something else intended for attachment to what the button is mounted on). In order that the button may slide in either direction through a hole when so guided, yet otherwise present an opening too narrow to permit sliding back through by chance, a hole's perimeter fractionally exceeds the perimeter of the cross-section of the button along its diameter. Most commonly, each button has a single corresponding hole and vice versa, and both are sewn on or to the same object. (Cuffs adjustable to different circumferences, and removable button-on collars, are respective examples of exceptions.)

See also

• Snap fastener
• Zipper
• Campaign button

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Hesse, Rayner W. & Hesse (Jr.), Rayner W. (2007). Jewelrymaking Through History: An Encyclopedia . Greenwood Publishing Group. 35. ISBN 0313335079.
2. ^ McNeil, Ian (1990). An encyclopaedia of the history of technology . Taylor & Francis. 852. ISBN 0415013062.
3. ^ Lynn White: "The Act of Invention: Causes, Contexts, Continuities and Consequences", Technology and Culture , Vol. 3, No. 4 (Autumn, 1962), pp. 486-500 (497f. & 500)

Cited works

1. Carl Kohler, A History of Costume , Dover 1963 reprint, ISBN 0-486-21030-8
2. Bryan Bunch, The History of Science and Technology , Houghton Mifflin Books, 2004 ISBN 0-618-22123-9

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