The History of the Button — The Object That Fastened Nothing for Four Thousand Years

Was the button always a fastener? 🧵 In this video we unravel the myth and trace the story of the button — from the Bronze Age ornaments that held nothing together, to the medieval invention of the buttonhole that suddenly made clothing fit the human body, and the guilds that fought in court to keep anyone else from making them. For most of its existence the button was pure decoration, and the thing that changed everything was the hole. If you enjoyed this textile history deep dive, like the video, subscribe to Fabric Myths, and leave a comment with the fabric origin story we should cover next 👇