You all must have noticed that there are two buttons on the cuff of almost every shirt. But do you know the reason why shirts have two buttons? There’s a concrete reason for it, let’s find out.
Stylist Joe, who runs the account @joe_x_style on Tiktok, has answered this question. He said, “Have you ever wondered why shirts have two buttons and only one buttonhole on their sleeves?" Answering this, he said, “This is not given for spare or decorative purposes. There is a reason behind this."
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Showing the buttons in a video, he said that anyone who is right-handed, always wants to do the tightest button on their right hand, and on the non-dominant arm, they want to opt for the looser button and vice versa. Because people always wear their watch on their less dominant arm.
Secondly, the buttons allow for an even amount of shirt cuff to be shown on both arms so one can always look smart.
People were surprised after watching this video, and immediately started explaining what they earlier thought was the reason for having two buttons on the shirts. One of the users commented, “I thought they were made for people with different wrist sizes lol." While another one said, “Always thought it was a spare."
Let's put it this way: a single-cuff shirt is what you'll find in most everyday wardrobes, and the double cuff, aka French cuff, is for formal occasions.
The two buttons at the bottom of a shirt, also known as the hem buttons, serve a practical purpose. They are used to secure the bottom of the shirt and prevent it from riding up or becoming untucked. This is especially useful for men's dress shirts, as it helps maintain a neat and professional appearance.
The cuff buttons were similar to the pips of military rank. It allowed the sleeve to be rolled up easily. It was primarily used so that the surgeons would be to attend to their patients who were bleeding without having to remove their coats.
You'll need cuff links or cuff knots to close your French Cuffs, whereas Barrel Cuffs have simple button closures. French cuffs are definitely more formal and are the natural choice if you're buying a tuxedo shirt or wedding shirt. Some guys love French Cuffs, others love Barrel Cuffs.
French cuffs are long, stiff, and have buttonholes on each side. The stiff fabric allows you to fold the cuff onto itself and align the button holes on each side. Once the button holes are aligned, you can pin them together using a cufflink.
French cuff shirts are the standard for black-tie eventing and a staple in men's formal business wear. That's if you want to stick to the strictest of rules. But, of course, fashion has changed over the last decades, and we've seen both a surge of interest in men's fashion (finally) and a relaxing of the rules.
The hidden button collar is the cousin of the more well known button-down collar. As the name suggests, the buttons and buttonholes are hidden under the collar meaning you enjoy the benefits of a button-down collar while maintaining the more formal appearance of a button-less collar.
"When buttons were invented in the 13th century they were, like most new technology, very expensive," she told Today. "Wealthy women back then did not dress themselves—their lady's maid did. Since most people were right-handed, this made it easier for someone standing across from you to button your dress."
Double cuffs, are twice as long and are worn folded back upon themselves. They're the standard choice these days for the Black Tie dress code and are also a staple of business wear. If you haven't guessed it yet, double cuffs are more commonly known as French cuffs.
In all cases the motivation behind the introduction of additional buttons would have been to prevent troops from using the sleeves to “clean themselves”, for example by wiping their nose, mouth, tears or wounds. , a habit that tended to spoil the appearance of uniforms and make troops not very presentable.
Since button-down shirts are designed to be a bit more form-fitting, the sleeves taper at the end around the wrist. Without the placket and the buttoned cuff, you likely wouldn't be able to slide your hand through the opening of the sleeve without ripping it.
The history of button down shirts dates back to 1869, in England. Polo players often found the collars of their shirts would flap up in the wind, and impair their vision. So they attached buttons to their collars, in order to hold them down for matches.
Introduction: My name is Aron Pacocha, I am a happy, tasty, innocent, proud, talented, courageous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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