The other day, construction workers at the college struck a gas line, filling the air around the campus with the sweet toxicity of poisonous vapors. (I swear, it wasn't me!) We had to evacuate most of the buildings. One of the few open buildings was the cafeteria, so a bunch of us gathered there. I sat at a table with several other faculty members. Somehow, the conversation turned to buttons--specifically, the fact that the buttons on men's and women's shirts are on different sides. The folks then began wondering why this should be the case. Was this just a random decision on the part of clothing manufacturers? Some sort of strange sexism?
"Actually," I said, "I've heard that the reasons are historical. It goes back to the days when women--particularly upper-class women--had dressers, that is, people who would dress them. Having the buttons on the 'opposite' side made it easier for the dresser to button the lady's shirt."
After saying this, I heard the all-too-familiar sound of bemused silence, followed by the equally familiar, "Why on earth do you KNOW this?"
I've heard the expression "guilty knowledge," but I never knew this was what it meant.
Men's buttons were/are mostly in the front. To close them, one takes the button in one's right hand and the "hole" in the left.
ReplyDeleteWomen's buttons were (when they existed at all, and yes, mostly in the upper classes) in the back. To close them, one takes the button in one's right hand and the "hole" in the left.
Our present-day knowledge of this is sense-memory.
For centuries, we neede to know this so that we could change clothes.
If we couldn't change clothes, we could never have become Kim Kardashian