How one Napoleon's whim changed the fashion world forever: the story of an invention that business women and men adore today

Is it pleasant to see someone wiping their nose with a sweater or a shirt sleeve? If not, sew a few metal buttons there. That's what the French commander Napoleon Bonaparte did.

If it weren't for him, perhaps modern shirts and jackets would look completely different. Still, business woman and men today cannot imagine a jacket without buttons. It all started with Napoleon's whim because he was uncomfortable looking at his soldiers when they wiped their noses on the sleeves of their jackets. Read more in the article by OBOZ.UA.

Napoleon Bonaparte is famous not only for burning Moscow in 1812 but also for interfering with fashion. He was uncomfortable when the soldiers wiped their noses on their sleeves. Thus, the commander came up with the idea to sew metal buttons to the sleeves of their jackets.

The metal left scratches on the face, so using this method, Napoleon quickly taught the French to use napkins to wipe their faces. In particular, soldiers always had handkerchiefs with them, but did not use them because they held their weapons on their shoulders with their right hands. Later, buttons on sleeves became fashionable not only among the military but also among civilians and spread to other countries.

Modern jackets haven't changed much from the ones of those days. They still have buttons, but they are now plastic and serve only as a design feature. They are also sewn in unlimited quantities.

In particular, the mismatch between the sides of men's and women's shirts, where the buttons were located, is also an invention of Napoleon. On men's clothes, they were on the right because the commander was right-handed and liked to walk with his hand between the buttons. However, as women teased him, he ordered his tailors to make them with the snaps on the left. This is just an assumption, so perhaps Napoleon Bonaparte is just a myth in this story.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote about five inventions created by Ukrainians that have facilitated progress in the world.

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