When a maid stands facing the woman she is dressing, the maid uses her right hand to button the garment. Having the buttons on the lady’s left side made the motion natural and efficient for the (right-handed) servant. This “opposite” buttoning became the standard for women’s ready-made clothing once mass production began in the 1800s–1900s, even though most women no longer had maids.
Supporting Evidence
- This practice is consistently documented in fashion history:
- Victorian and Edwardian tailoring manuals explicitly state the rule: men left-over-right, women right-over-left.
- Surviving garments from the 17th–20th centuries follow the rule almost without exception in Western fashion.
- The convention persisted into factory-made clothing because manufacturers kept the standard for “feminine” garments.
The Myths (and why they’re wrong)
You’ll often hear these explanations online, but they’re not the primary reason:
- “Women held babies on the left arm to keep the right arm free” → No historical evidence supports this as the origin.
- “So they could breastfeed more easily” → Nursing openings were separate slits or flaps; button direction was unrelated.
- “Napoleon changed it because women mocked him” → A fun story, but completely made-up.
Today
So in short: Women’s shirts button “backwards” because, hundreds of years ago, rich women were dressed by servants who faced them — and the habit stuck.
did not dress themselves — they had maids or ladies’ maids who did it for them.
