A History of the Button Front Shirt

April 8, 2022

Closeup of a blue button up shirt.

The button front shirt is timeless, versatile, and steeped in history. Through the many iterations of the shirt, stories of craft and culture are held in each garment. With examples from many parts of the world, the buttoned shirt rose in popularity in part for its practicality – the addition of buttons allowing for tighter fitting, highly structured garments. Its design and construction vary with culturally specific aesthetic and craft traditions. In historical examples, embellishments and shapes reflect local clothing practices informed by tradition, industry, geography, and climate.

“Button front” refers to any shirt with a full length opening, lined with buttons to allow a smooth closure. The typically fitted necklines, cuffs, and tailored shapes of the button front shirt are made possible by the button – a seemingly simple yet incredible tool that has played a large role in shaping the course of fashion and clothing production. The first buttons were decorative, the oldest extant example from ca. 2000 BC found in Mohenjo-daro, in present day Pakistan. These pieces were made of curved shells, with small holes drilled in the surface for thread. Over time, the button shifted from a form of embellishment to having a deeply practical purpose as well. There is evidence of buttons used to close shirt cuffs in the early Byzantine Empire, and to fasten the necks of Egyptian tunics by the 5th century AD. The shirt collar as we know it today developed from earlier iterations of collars and ruffs, especially prevalent in 16th century European dress.

A button from Iran, ca. 9th century BC. From the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image courtesy of The Met.
An ornament or button for a horse harness. Assyrian, ca. 9th-7th century BC, from the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image courtesy of The Met.
A flat button from the Roman Empire, ca. 2nd-3rd century AD. From the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image courtesy of The Met.
Detail of the neck of a linen shirt, enclosed by three buttons. Made in England, ca. 1697-1702, from the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Image courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
A woman’s sleeveless off-white undershirt with a high collar, from the collection at Tatter Blue Library. The garment is decorated with lace appliqué of a slightly darker tone around neck neck, shoulders, and upper chest. The buttons along the back are an example of their usefulness and popularity in allowing a more fitted form for undergarments. Date unknown.

Buttoned closures for garments became increasingly prevalent in the 13th century with the advent of the reinforced buttonhole, though buttons attached with cloth shanks predated and continued to be widely used. The buttonhole is strengthened and shaped by these additional stitches. Frays and rips are prevented – the cloth protected from the strain of the repeated motions of buttoning and unbuttoning. This stitching ingenuity allowed for expansion in clothing design. With smocking, lacing, gathering, and pleating among the popular and preferred techniques for shaping cloth, buttoned enclosures allowed for tighter fitting garments and new shapes while using less cloth. Early iterations of the button front shirt functioned primarily as undergarments to protect outer layers from wear and soil, before becoming intricate pieces to be shown and admired. The buttons allowed for some elements of the garment to be easily detached and reattached, such as collars and sleeves, which made for easy laundering.

Gardening Shirt, from the collection at Tatter Blue Library, featuring knotted shank buttons. White shirt with printed images of blue leaves and red hatched designs. Has a button closure in the front center and a high neck collar. Date: circa mid-20th century.

The buttoned shirt became a piece for expression – a canvas to convey personal taste, craft expertise, and social status. Alongside buttons, collars, sleeves, and cuffs are all a ground to showcase beautifully intricate and specific craft techniques. Options for clothing shape and design became seemingly endless, the shape of a collar or the swell of a sleeve adding playful personality to the final garment. The button front remains beloved for all its versatility, practicality, and design potential, each garment a ground for beautiful expression.

Bibliography:

Arnold, Janet, et al. Patterns of Fashion 4: The Cut and Construction of Linen Shirts, Smocks, Neckwear, Headwear and Accessories for Men and Women: C. 1540 – 1660. Pan Macmillan, 2008. 

Coffin, David Page. Sewing Shirts with a Perfect Fit: The Ultimate Guide to Fit, Style, and Construction from Collared and Cuffed to Blouses and Tunics. Quarry Books, 2018. 

Coffin, David Page. Shirtmaking – Developing Skills for Fine Sewing. Taunton Press Inc, 1998. 

Luscomb, Sally C. The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Buttons. Schiffer Publishing, 2007. 

Peacock, Primrose. Discovering Old Buttons. Shire Publications, 1978. Willett, Cecil, and Phillis Cunnington. The History of Underclothes. Dover, 1992.

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See more beautiful button examples in the collection at Tatter Blue Library

12 Dorset buttons created from white and blue wrapped thread. Date: likely 20th century. Likely handmade. 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm each.
Sleeveless shirt of various blue and purple dyed silk fabrics and a standing collar. Flora and fauna imagery in embroidery work at center front of shirt. Knotted buttons enclose the neck and two sides. Two images of lions are appliquéd to the front upper right and left of the shirt. 48 cm x 40 cm.
Two buttons covered in dark blue thread, taking the form of a knot at the center. 1.4 cm x 1.4 cm each.