SMCC > Collections > Textiles > Information Sheet > Fastenings and butttons of the 19/20th century

Fastenings and buttons of the 19/20th century

Pins

Made with solid heads (not separate from shank) -1848

Danish safety pin

Introduced in 1873 (Dress Reform)

Zip fasteners

'The mechanical slide fastener' was first manufactured in 1920s but was not generally used until it was perfected in 1937-38. The early zips were very heavy and made of metal, manufactured in all colours, used to fasten dresses, girdles, foundation garments and coats or wherever a trim concealed closure was needed.

Buckles

A fastening device in use since antiquity for leather belts and armour. In the medieval period buckles held up the long hose and fastened all parts of dress including footwear. Pumps with buckles of brass, steel and silver, some set with pearls and diamonds (either real or false) appeared in the 1850s. Round and oval shapes came in the 18th century and by the 19th century buckles became fashionable accessories on women's clothes.

Velcro

Trade name of a non-metallic, overlapping fastener consisting of 2 strips of fabric faced with tiny nylon hooks which, when pressed together hold fast. To undo the strips one simply just pulls apart. Invented by Georges de Mestral, from Switzerland. First used during the early 1960s on 'cover ups' in beauty salons.

Elastic

Elasticised fabric, with rubber, was invented by T.Hancock of Middlesex, England in 1820. It was called elastic cloth or webbing and replaced the ribbons and ribbon garters then in vogue. From 1836 when Charles Goodyear made his important discovery of a method of treating the surface of gum, the use of elastic in dress became more practical.

Buttons

Buttons were first worn in the reign of Edward III (1327-1377). They became very popular during the reign of Charles I (1625-1649). Jewelled and sewn to handkerchiefs they were known as 'kerchief buttons'

From 1866 buttons were used lavishly on the vest, cuffs and pockets of male costume. Made of wood, bone, metal or passementerie over a form. The shapes varied from flat, round ball and oval to tiny mirrors. In the 18th century hand painted miniatures on ivory framed with a clip and diamonds were unusual. Button making began in the American colonies in 1706 and has been a prosperous manufacturing business ever since.

Horn buttons appeared in the 19th century. By the middle of the 19th century dyed vegetable ivory became most popular, continuing to the present.

In 1807 in Birmingham, England Will Sanders invented the metal button of 2 discs locked together by turning the edges, and the shell button with a metal shank.

In the United States in 1827 Samuel Willson of East Hampton, Massachusetts patented the invention of a machine to produce cloth-covered buttons. The vogue of buttons for fastening and trimming costumes continued, in varied shape and size. They are sewn on or attached to garments by shank or holes and are made in bone, plastic, glass, metal and other compositions. Cloth covered buttons often match suit and coat fabric. 'Hoop' and 'knot 'are early words for the button. The Chinese and Japanese tie knots of silk and cotton as buttons.