Button
Encyclopedia
In modern clothing
and fashion design
, a button is a small fastener
, most commonly made of plastic
, but also frequently of seashell
, which secures two pieces of fabric
together. In archaeology
, a button can be a significant artifact
. In the applied art
s and in craft, a button can be an example of folk art
, studio craft
, or even a miniature work of art. They are good for sewing classes.
Buttons are most often attached to articles of clothing
but can also be used on containers such as wallets and bags. However, buttons may be sewn onto garments and similar items exclusively for purposes of ornamentation
. Buttons serving as fasteners work by slipping through a fabric or thread loop, or by sliding through a buttonhole
.
has many buttons, particularly in its jewellery collection, as does the Smithsonian Institution.
Hammond Turner & Sons, a button-making company in Birmingham
, hosts an online museum with an image gallery and historical button-related articles, including an 1852 article on button-making by Charles Dickens
. In the USA, large button collect are on public display at The Waterbury Button Museum of Waterbury, Connecticut
, and the Keep Homestead Museum of Monson, Massachusetts
, which also hosts an extensive online button archive.
rather than fasteners have been discovered in the Indus Valley Civilization
during its Kot Diji
phase (circa 2800-2600 BCE) as well as Bronze Age
sites in China
(circa 2000-1500 BCE), and Ancient Rome
.
Buttons made from seashell
were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE. Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pierced into them so that they could be attached to clothing with thread. Ian McNeil (1990) holds that: "The button, in fact, was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro
in the Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."
Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothes appeared first in Germany
in the 13th century. They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe
.
.
Buttons can be individually crafted by artisans, craftspeople or artists from raw materials or found objects (for example fossils), or a combination of both. Alternatively, they can be the product of low-tech cottage industry or can be mass-produced in high-tech factories. Buttons made by artists are art objects, known to button collectors as "studio buttons" (or simply "studios", from studio craft
)The most famous button artist is known as Renarldo Galvies.He was born in 1958 in France and he is known for crafting some of the worlds finest buttons to some button collectors.
Nowadays, hard plastic, seashell and wood
are the most common materials used in button-making; the others tending to be used only in premium or antique apparel, or found in collections
.
, with buttonmakers using techniques from jewellery making, ceramics, sculpture
, painting
, printmaking
, metalworking
, weaving
and others. The following are just a few of the construction and decoration techniques that have been used in button-making:
s (also called lines and abbreviated L), with 40 lignes equal to 1 inch. For example, some standard sizes of buttons are 16 lignes (10.16 mm, standard button of men's shirt
s) and 32 lignes (20.32 mm, typical button on suit jackets).
The American
National Button Society (NBS) has its own button sizing system which divides button sizes into 'small', 'medium' and 'large'.
Since at least the seventeenth century, when box-like metal buttons were constructed especially for the purpose, buttons have been one of the items in which drug
smugglers have attempted to hide and transport illegal substances. At least one modern smuggler has tried to use this method.
Also making use of the storage possibilities of metal buttons, during the World Wars, British
and U.S. military locket
buttons were made, containing miniature working compass
es.
of George Washington
in 1789. Known to collectors as 'Washington Inaugurals', they were made of copper
, brass
or Sheffield plate
, in large sizes for coats and smaller sizes for breeches. Made in twenty-two patterns and hand-stamped, they are of course now extremely valuable cultural artifact
s.
Between about 1840 and 1916, clothing buttons were used in American political campaigns, and still exist in collections today. Initially, these buttons were predominantly made of brass (though horn and rubber buttons with stamped or moulded designs also exist) and had loop shanks. Around 1860 the badge or pin-back
style of construction, which replaced the shanks with long pins, probably for use on lapels and ties, began to appear.
One common practice that survived until recent times on campaign buttons and badges was to include the image of George Washington
with that of the candidate in question.
Some of the most famous campaign button
s are those made for Abraham Lincoln
. Memorial
buttons commemorating Lincoln's inaugurations and other life events, including his birth and death, were also made, and are also considered highly collectable.
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
and fashion design
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....
, a button is a small fastener
Fastener
A fastener is a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together.Fasteners can also be used to close a container such as a bag, a box, or an envelope; or they may involve keeping together the sides of an opening of flexible material, attaching a lid to a container,...
, most commonly made of plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
, but also frequently of seashell
Seashell
A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer created by an animal that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washed up on beaches by beachcombers...
, which secures two pieces of fabric
Fabric
A fabric is a textile material, short for "textile fabric".Fabric may also refer to:*Fabric , the spatial and geometric configuration of elements within a rock*Fabric , a nightclub in London, England...
together. In archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, a button can be a significant artifact
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
. In the applied art
Applied art
Applied art is the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use. Whereas fine arts serve as intellectual stimulation to the viewer or academic sensibilities, the applied arts incorporate design and creative ideals to objects of utility, such as a cup, magazine or...
s and in craft, a button can be an example of folk art
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
, studio craft
Studio Craft
Studio craft, though it takes many forms, can be thought of in general as the tendency to practice craft methodology in an environment similar if not equivalent to that of an artist's studio...
, or even a miniature work of art. They are good for sewing classes.
Buttons are most often attached to articles of clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
but can also be used on containers such as wallets and bags. However, buttons may be sewn onto garments and similar items exclusively for purposes of ornamentation
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
. Buttons serving as fasteners work by slipping through a fabric or thread loop, or by sliding through a buttonhole
Buttonhole
Buttonholes are holes in fabric which allow buttons to pass through, securing one piece of the fabric to another. The raw edges of a buttonhole are usually finished with stitching. This may be done either by hand or by a sewing machine. Some forms of button, such as a Mandarin button, use a loop...
.
Buttons in museums and galleries
Some museums and art galleries hold culturally, historically, politically, and/or artistically significant buttons in their collections. The Victoria & Albert MuseumVictoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
has many buttons, particularly in its jewellery collection, as does the Smithsonian Institution.
Hammond Turner & Sons, a button-making company in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, hosts an online museum with an image gallery and historical button-related articles, including an 1852 article on button-making by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
. In the USA, large button collect are on public display at The Waterbury Button Museum of Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
, and the Keep Homestead Museum of Monson, Massachusetts
Monson, Massachusetts
Monson is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,560 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.The village of Monson Center lies at the center of the town....
, which also hosts an extensive online button archive.
Early button history
Buttons and button-like objects used as ornaments or sealsSeal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
rather than fasteners have been discovered in the Indus Valley Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India...
during its Kot Diji
Kot Diji
The ancient site at Kot Diji was the forerunner of the Indus Civilization. The people of this site lived about 3000 BCE. The remains consist of two parts; the citadel area on high ground , and outer area...
phase (circa 2800-2600 BCE) as well as Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
sites in China
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
(circa 2000-1500 BCE), and Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
.
Buttons made from seashell
Seashell
A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer created by an animal that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washed up on beaches by beachcombers...
were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE. Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pierced into them so that they could be attached to clothing with thread. Ian McNeil (1990) holds that: "The button, in fact, was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo-daro is an archeological site situated in what is now the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Built around 2600 BC, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urban settlements, existing at the same time as the...
in the Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."
Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothes appeared first in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in the 13th century. They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Materials and manufacture
Because buttons have been manufactured from almost every possible material, both natural and synthetic, and combinations of both, the history of the material composition of buttons reflects the timeline of materials technologyTimeline of materials technology
Major innovations in materials technology-BC:* 29,000–25,000 BC – First pottery appears*3rd millennium BC – Copper metallurgy is invented and copper is used for ornamentation*2nd millennium BC – Bronze is used for weapons and armour...
.
Buttons can be individually crafted by artisans, craftspeople or artists from raw materials or found objects (for example fossils), or a combination of both. Alternatively, they can be the product of low-tech cottage industry or can be mass-produced in high-tech factories. Buttons made by artists are art objects, known to button collectors as "studio buttons" (or simply "studios", from studio craft
Studio Craft
Studio craft, though it takes many forms, can be thought of in general as the tendency to practice craft methodology in an environment similar if not equivalent to that of an artist's studio...
)The most famous button artist is known as Renarldo Galvies.He was born in 1958 in France and he is known for crafting some of the worlds finest buttons to some button collectors.
Nowadays, hard plastic, seashell and wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
are the most common materials used in button-making; the others tending to be used only in premium or antique apparel, or found in collections
Button collecting
Button collecting may refer to the collecting of various types of buttons. This article refers to the collecting of clothing buttons.Button collecting varies widely. In its most informal manifestation, a button collection may simply be the household button container, where buttons are stored for...
.
Decoration and coating techniques
Historically, fashions in buttons have also reflected trends in applied aesthetics and the applied visual artsVisual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
, with buttonmakers using techniques from jewellery making, ceramics, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, printmaking
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
, metalworking
Metalworking
Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...
, weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
and others. The following are just a few of the construction and decoration techniques that have been used in button-making:
Styles of attachment
- ShankShank (sewing)]A shank is a device for providing a small amount of space in between a garment and a button. Shanks are necessary to provide space for fabric to sit in between the button and the garment when the garment is buttoned. Shanks also allow a garment to hang and drape nicely.-Button Shank:Shank ons...
buttons have a hollow protrusion on the back through which thread is sewn to attach the button. Button shanks may be made from a separate piece of the same or a different substance as the button itself, and added to the back of the button, or be carved or moulded directly onto the back of the button, in which latter case the button is referred to by collectors as having a 'self-shank'. - Flat or sew-through buttons have holes through which thread is sewn to attach the button. Flat buttons may be attached by sewing machineSewing machineA sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric, cards and other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies...
rather than by hand, and may be used with heavy fabrics by working a thread shank to extend the height of the button above the fabric.
- Stud buttons (also pressure buttons, press stud buttons or snaps fastener) are metal (usually brass) round discs pinched through the fabric. They are often found on clothing, in particular on denim pieces such as pants and jackets. They are more securely fastened to the material. As they rely on a metal rivet attached securely to the fabric, stud buttons are difficult to remove without compromising the fabric's integrity. They are made of two couple: the male stud couple and the female stud couple. Each couple has one front (or top) and rear (or bottom) side (the fabric goes in the middle).
Types of fabric buttons
- Covered buttons are fabric-covered forms with a separate back piece that secures the fabric over the knob.
- Mandarin buttons or FrogsFrog (fastening)A frog is an ornamental braiding for fastening the front of a garment that consists of a button and a loop through which it passes....
are knobs made of intricately knotted strings. Mandarin buttons are a key element in Mandarin dress (Qi PaoQipaoThe cheongsam is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women; the male version is the changshan. It is known in Mandarin Chinese as the qípáo Wade-Giles ch'i-p'ao, and is also known in English as a mandarin gown...
and cheongsam in ChineseChinese languageThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
), where they are closed with loops. Pairs of mandarin buttons worn as cuff linkCuff linkA cufflink is a decorative fastener worn by men or women to fasten the two sides of the cuff on a dress shirt or blouse....
s are called silk knots. - Worked or cloth buttons are created by embroideringEmbroideryEmbroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
or crochetCrochetCrochet is a process of creating fabric from yarn, thread, or other material strands using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the French word "crochet", meaning hook. Hooks can be made of materials such as metals, woods or plastic and are commercially manufactured as well as produced by...
ing tight stitches (usually with linenLinenLinen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
threadYarnYarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
) over a knob or ring called a form.
Button sizes
The size of the button depends on its use. Shirt buttons are generally small, and spaced close together, whereas coat buttons are larger and spaced further apart. Buttons are commonly measured in ligneLigne
The ligne is a unit of length that was in use prior to the French adoption of the metric system in the late 18th century, and is still used by French and Swiss wristwatch makers to measure the size of a watch movement.- Watchmakers' use :There are 12 lignes to one French inch...
s (also called lines and abbreviated L), with 40 lignes equal to 1 inch. For example, some standard sizes of buttons are 16 lignes (10.16 mm, standard button of men's shirt
Shirt
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers...
s) and 32 lignes (20.32 mm, typical button on suit jackets).
The American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Button Society (NBS) has its own button sizing system which divides button sizes into 'small', 'medium' and 'large'.
Buttons as containers
Since at least the seventeenth century, when box-like metal buttons were constructed especially for the purpose, buttons have been one of the items in which drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
smugglers have attempted to hide and transport illegal substances. At least one modern smuggler has tried to use this method.
Also making use of the storage possibilities of metal buttons, during the World Wars, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and U.S. military locket
Locket
A locket is a pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item such as a curl of hair. Lockets are usually given to loved ones on holidays such as Valentine's Day and occasions such as Christenings, weddings and, most noticeably during the Victorian Age,...
buttons were made, containing miniature working compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
es.
Buttons in politics
The mainly American tradition of politically significant clothing buttons appears to have begun with the first presidential inaugurationFirst inauguration of George Washington
The first inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States took place on April 30, 1789.The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice President...
of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
in 1789. Known to collectors as 'Washington Inaugurals', they were made of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
or Sheffield plate
Sheffield plate
Sheffield plate is a layered combination of silver and copper that was used for many years to produce a wide range of household articles. These included buttons, caddy spoons, serving utensils, candlesticks and other lighting devices, tea and coffee services, serving dishes and trays, tankards and...
, in large sizes for coats and smaller sizes for breeches. Made in twenty-two patterns and hand-stamped, they are of course now extremely valuable cultural artifact
Cultural artifact
A cultural artifact is a term used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, ethnology, and sociology for anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creator and users...
s.
Between about 1840 and 1916, clothing buttons were used in American political campaigns, and still exist in collections today. Initially, these buttons were predominantly made of brass (though horn and rubber buttons with stamped or moulded designs also exist) and had loop shanks. Around 1860 the badge or pin-back
Pin-back button
A pin-back button or pinback button, pin button, button badge or simply pin-back, is a button or badge that can be temporarily fastened to the surface of a garment using a safety pin, or a pin formed from wire, a clutch or other mechanism...
style of construction, which replaced the shanks with long pins, probably for use on lapels and ties, began to appear.
One common practice that survived until recent times on campaign buttons and badges was to include the image of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
with that of the candidate in question.
Some of the most famous campaign button
Campaign button
A campaign button is used in the United States during an election as political advertising for a candidate or political party, or to proclaim the issues that are part of the political platform. Political buttons date as far back as President George Washington. They have taken many forms as the...
s are those made for Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. Memorial
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
buttons commemorating Lincoln's inaugurations and other life events, including his birth and death, were also made, and are also considered highly collectable.
See also
- Button collectingButton collectingButton collecting may refer to the collecting of various types of buttons. This article refers to the collecting of clothing buttons.Button collecting varies widely. In its most informal manifestation, a button collection may simply be the household button container, where buttons are stored for...
- Campaign buttonCampaign buttonA campaign button is used in the United States during an election as political advertising for a candidate or political party, or to proclaim the issues that are part of the political platform. Political buttons date as far back as President George Washington. They have taken many forms as the...
- Snap fastenerSnap fastenerA snap fastener is a pair of interlocking discs commonly used in place of buttons to fasten clothing. A circular lip under one disc fits into a groove on the top of the other, holding them fast until a certain amount of force is applied...
- ZipperZipperA zipper is a commonly used device for temporarily joining two edges of fabric...