Buttons are universal types of fasteners that even a child can handle. In addition to applications in the sewing and haberdashery industry, they are used to decorate clothes and interiors, as consumables for hand-made crafts and children's toys.
Who invented the buttons
Interesting! On women's and men's clothes, fasteners are located on different sides. On the female on the left, male on the right. This is explained by the fact that earlier men, in most cases, dressed on their own, while girls with outfits were helped by maids, for whom the arrangement of ribbons and hooks on the right side was inconvenient.
Story
It’s impossible to say exactly who invented to connect the pieces of clothing with each other with the help of small items by threading them in loops or holes in the fabric. Some sources attribute the primacy to the Greeks, the second to the Egyptians, and the third to Asians and Turks. Until a certain moment, they all tied, pins or metal buckles connected parts of their outfits, until someone came up with the idea of using buttons for these purposes.
Objects discovered in the Indus Valley are vaguely reminiscent of modern models, which were used more for decoration than for fastening clothes. They were made of shells, geometrically regular shapes, in the middle was a hole that allows you to tie a button to clothes.
In the early Middle Ages, such devices were almost forgotten and were not used as fasteners. To return to their popularity, the tight-fitting cut invented in the 13th century helped. It was not possible to achieve the effect without them. If you look at the work of artists of those times, you can see that most of the outfits were decorated with long rows of small buttons, the number of which could reach hundreds.
Interesting! Coats of arms of houses and other distinctive drawings and inscriptions, which emphasize the special status of their owners, were applied to the products that decorated the outfits of the nobility.
The first buttons as they were
The very first samples of clothes clasps were made of stone or animal bones. Later, ancient people learned how to cut out buttons from wood and fit them with leather or cloth. In France, clothes fasteners have learned to make ceramics, mother of pearl, porcelain and glass. The Chinese made papier-mâché buttons, which Europeans who lived at the beginning of the 19th century really liked.
The Germans began to cast buttons from various metals and alloys, which included copper and tin. Products made of precious metals inlaid with diamonds and other stones adorned the clothes of influential people and performed a more decorative function.
In addition to the materials for the manufacture, the shape and dimensions also changed. Pear-shaped, square, almond-shaped or grooved, reaching the size of a small egg and not exceeding the parameters of a pea - all of them found their places on dresses and caftans of people of past centuries.
Interesting! In addition to functional and decorative applications, buttons played the role of amulets, endowed with great strength and power. In different cultures they were used in rituals and rituals, they spoke for good luck and happiness, lured grooms with their help and sent damage.
Button in the modern world
Today, finding at least one button on your clothes will not be difficult for any person. They are used as decoration even where, it would seem, without them it was possible to do. As materials for manufacturing, plastic is most often used, since it is the most unpretentious and convenient for constant interaction with fabrics and other materials.
There are several types of buttons:
- With through holes. Most often there are 2 or 4. Some clothing manufacturers can produce lines with 3 or even 5 holes, which subsequently become their business card and hallmark.
- With an ear. Such products are sewn to the fabric by threading a thread into a protrusion with a hole protruding on the rear side.
- Denim Such models are not sewn to the fabric, but are attached to it with a spike or rivet. It is quite difficult to attach such a button to trousers or a shirt yourself is most often done in the studio.
