1. Piece of bone, metal, glass, or any composition, of various shapes, having shank or holes by means of which it is sewed to garments. Used for fastening and for trimming. Also, to fasten or secure with buttons. 2. [Buttons] Used as decorative items of dress since the 14th century, though their prominence is entirely dependent on fashion trends. By the early 19th century, machine-made fabric buttons and buttons made of ceramics, glass and papier-mâché were in existence but they were not strongly featured in fashions of the period. From the mid-19th century, shell, mother-of-pearl, black glass, stamped steel and brass, and moulded horn were often used for buttons, which by this time had become integral parts of fashion design. Dresses and blouses were made with many tiny buttons. In the 1880s there was a revival in the use of enamel (previously popular in the 18th century), and buttons were also made of glass or porcelain, or covered with embroidery. These trends continued until World War I, when there was a marked decline in the number of buttons used. The Art Deco movement of the 1920s brought buttons once more into fashion’s focus and this interest continued throughout the 1930s and stimulated the production of buttons made from wood, cork, plexiglas and synthetic plastics. Novelty buttons enjoyed a vogue in this decade. Used as strategic parts of clothing designs, they often resembled baskets of fruit or cigarette packets. Mainbocher presented silver clasp buttons, Rochas showed buttons in the shape of open books, and Patou adorned his outfits with flower pots, foxes, mermaids and snake buttons. Schiaparelli also used unusual buttons in her design, notably the acrobat buttons of her ’Circus’ jacket. After World War II, buttons became less decorative and more functional
Definition source:
1. Brooks 99, 2. O’Hara 98
Context:
Mark the position of the buttons and buttonholes on the pattern
