Ginormous Blue Button: What Was It For?

I found this button in an antique store and pondering its size. It came as a single button which probably meant it was supposed to be used as one. Although it had some gleam to it, it wasn’t particularly shiny and it came in navy blue which was one of the standard colors for women’s daytime clothing for much of the 20th Century. All this told me: coat button.

And indeed, when I took a look at my collection of patterns, I found this reissued 1950s pattern from Simplicity 8509. This style of swing coat or swing jacket was popular through the 1950s. It could be worn with the long, straight skirt which was as much part of the the New Look style by Christian Dior from 1947 as the better-known long, flared skirt. This version has both single button, or 3 buttons or none at all. Each time the buttonholes are bound which suits such a large button as it has more structure built into it.

Of course, single- and no-button coats are not the most practical, of course, as anyone who has worn one in a chilly breeze can tell you. They do give you the air of a woman with a private car waiting for her at the curb, so even the breeze has no time to mess with her. For those of us who need to hurry down the street without the private car, we can opt for as many buttons as we like.