Knowledge bomb: why are most buttonholes vertical?
3/25/2011
File this under "question you never think about that drives you nuts once someone poses it": why are most buttonholes vertical and only some horizontal?
As it turns out, horizontal buttonholes are actually the more practical of the two. There's more likely to be horizontal pulling than vertical with a shirt, and horizontal buttonholes take horizontal stress with less deformation of the buttonhole shape - plus the button is less likely to pop out.
Vertical buttonholes, however, are more aesthetically pleasing. Applying horizontal stress to a horizontal buttonhole results in the button getting pulled to the end of the hole rather than staying centered. So the convention has arisen to use vertical buttonholes except where the buttonhole is likely to be out of sight or unbuttoned (on the collar and, on more expensive shirts, on the bottommost button).
So, as often happens in life and in C+C Music Factory videos, vertical buttonholes prevail because they look better. Rest assured, though, horizontal buttonholes make up for it with engaging personality and a pathological need to prove that head cheerleader wrong at the 15-year reunion.
Knowledge bomb via Ask Metafilter. Image via Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing (presumably also for Lengthy Sitenames).
