Who was frightened with buttons and why in the old days: Ancient secrets of an ancient accessory

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

“You can become an archangel, a fool or a criminal, and no one will notice it. But if you don't have a button, everyone will pay attention to it,”wrote Erich Maria Remarque. Of course, the writer meant something somewhat different, but the button is a really important element of clothing, because historically it had not one, but five functions at once.

People began to sew small elements similar to buttons to clothes in time immemorial - the first such samples are attributed by scientists to the Indian kingdoms 2800-2600 BC. NS. This was done then not for profit, but only for decorative purposes, so that for the first time a button appeared on a suit as an adornment. Of course, only precious metals and the most expensive stones were then materials worthy for her. A little later, in Ancient Greece and Rome, buttons were already used as insignia and even awards. But the first functional buttons made of stone were found in Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey, they date back to 1500 BC. NS.

However, in very ancient times, people did not need buttons so much because of the peculiarities of clothes - they were mostly loose, and to fasten it there were enough strings, straps with buckles, or just the ends of the fabric that could be knitted. For the first time, the real need for a button, according to fashion historians, arose only in the Middle Ages in Europe, when the manner of wearing tight clothes forced to look for other ways of attaching it. Then a lot of lacing and buttons appeared in the suit. But lacing, although it holds tight, takes a lot of time, so buttons have become a convenient and functional alternative. Of course, like many details in clothing, they quickly turned into a field of fierce competition for the nobility.

With their sophistication, the buttons showed the wealth of their owner, and the number could indicate his belonging to a certain class. So, in the costume of the nobility, there were more than a hundred buttons, and King Francis I of France is considered the record holder in this matter, who once made an order for a jeweler to make 13,600 small buttons from gold, and they were all intended for one suit. Interestingly, in those days, buttons were the privilege of men. They entered the women's wardrobe much later.

But our ancestors treated buttons in a completely different way. In addition to the utilitarian and decorative function, they performed another important task in the Old Russian costume - they served as amulets. According to Vladimir Dal, a button is a "scarecrow", although there is no consensus on the etymology of this word. In the old days, people especially tried to protect the holes on the clothes - the collar, the ends of the sleeves and the hem, because it was through these “holes” that evil spirits could get close to the body. Buttons were also placed along the collar, further enhancing the magical properties of the embroidery. Since they were most often made of metal in Russia, the properties of this material were added to the "protection" (for similar purposes, for example, a horseshoe was hung over the door of a house - metal, along with wood, was considered one of the magical substances that could scare away evil forces). Ancient buttons could be hollow inside, and a pebble or a piece of tin was placed there. This design thundered when walking, so that all evil scattered from the road.

Although these remnants of the past seem ridiculous to us, echoes of similar beliefs can be found today. So, for example, the tradition of sewing one button (preferably a metal one) inside a garment or attaching a pin to the hem from the inside has exactly the same deterrent meaning. Or the belief that you have to grab a button if a black cat crosses the road … in fact, ancient magic is much closer to us than it seems.

Still later, buttons acquired an additional, but also very important value - they began to serve as signs of various departments. In Russia, departmental buttons were introduced under Nicholas I. It is interesting that the symbolism adopted at that time has been partially preserved to our times. Shaped buttons still carry a semantic load (for example, anchors on a naval uniform). In tsarist Russia, buttons were real identification marks. They varied and had their own type for each category: from the watchman to the chancellor. By the buttons it was possible to determine a person's belonging to a structure in power, politics or art. Representatives of the Academy of Arts, the state bank, the border guard, all educational institutions and other institutions wore their badges. For military units, the unit number, letter ciphers, and images of "grenades" (guns) were added to the buttons. So experts on one button alone can easily determine today who owned the old outfit.

Probably the most interesting decree regarding buttons was issued by Peter I. As always - ingeniously and very effectively - he managed with the help of this small element once and for all to wean the soldiers from the bad habit of wiping their mouth and nose with their sleeve. To do this, it was just enough to sew a number of buttons on the cuffs of the soldier's uniform, and the problem was solved.