For other uses see Button (disambiguation).
In clothing and fashion design, a button is a small plastic or metal disc- or knob-shaped, typically round, object usually attached to an article of clothing in order to secure an opening, or for ornamentation. Functional buttons work by slipping the button through a fabric or thread loop, or by sliding the button through a reinforced slit called a buttonhole.
Buttons may be manufactured from an extremely wide range of materials, including natural materials such as
antler, bone, horn, ivory, shell, vegetable ivory, and wood; or synthetics such as celluloid, glass, metal, and plastic.
Hard plastic is by far the most common material for newly manufactured buttons; the other materials tend to occur only in premium apparel.
Buttons and button-like objects used as ornaments rather than fasteners have been discovered in the ancient Indus Valley during its Kot Dijy phase (circa 2800-2600 BC) and Bronze Age sites in China (circa 2000-1500 BC), and are attested in Ancient Rome.
Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothing appeared first in Germany in the 13th century.[1] They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe.
Buttons are commonly measured in lignes (also called lines and abbreviated L), with 40 lignes equal to 1 inch. For example, some standard sizes of buttons are 16 lignes (10.16 mm, standard button of men's shirts) and 32 lignes (20.32 mm, typical button on suit jackets).
See main article: buttonhole.
Functional buttons (as opposed to decorative buttons) are normally paired with a buttonhole. Alternately, a decorative loop of cloth or rope may replace the buttonhole. Buttonholes may be either made by hand sewing or automated by a sewing machine.
Buttonholes often have a bar at either end. This is a row of perpendicular hand or machine stitching to reinforce the ends of a buttonhole.