Button placement in clothing, often taken for granted today, has roots in practicality and social signaling. Historically, women’s garments featured buttons on the left side because upper-class women were dressed by right-handed servants, making fastening easier for the helper. Men’s clothing, by contrast, placed buttons on the right to allow self-dressing and quick access for work, travel, or combat. These functional choices became visual markers of gender roles: women as ornamental and supported, men as autonomous and active.

Over time, button placement hardened into social convention. Tailors, fashion houses, and eventually mass production during the Industrial Revolution standardized the asymmetry, embedding centuries-old norms into everyday clothing even after the original reasons disappeared. Today, most people button shirts automatically, unaware that they are participating in a tradition shaped by class, gender, and labor hierarchies. Modern designers challenge these norms with gender-neutral clothing, but the standard persists as a subtle reminder of history’s influence on daily life.