The upper-class were the trend-setters for right over left buttons and that even if women didn't have a maid or servant. Men, especially upper-class men, didn't have servants who helped them button up their coats and waistcoats just isn't accurate. Up through the 18th century there are numerous examples of women’s clothing that included buttons having the buttons on the right, the same as men’s clothing.
Another popular theory sometimes proposed is that women’s clothes were designed so that the women had to button themselves with the “inferior” left hand as an indicator of their status as not on the same level as men. So this once again brings us back to those trend-setters and why they did it. Having clothes with buttons on the other side was a social indicator that you were so offensively wealthy that you didn't even need to dress yourself. It seems somewhat reasonable that switching the button side could have been another throw-in.
When the masses started wearing high heels, the elite simply made them taller. However, once the ladies started wearing them, the trend of men wearing high heels died off. It was enough to show that your women didn't need to button their own clothes. No sense then mimicking female fashion.
Given historical examples around the 1840s-1850s, it would seem at this point it was about a 50/50 chance whether a woman’ s clothes’ buttons would be on the right or left. Clothes became cheaper to buy and those selling them seemed to have chosen to emulate the elite on this one, and the practice has stuck around ever since. Would you like to own customized buttons? Come to SnapMade and design it by yourself.
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