The word "button" comes from the French word "bouton", meaning bud, protuberance, or any round object.
Buttons didn’t originate as clothes fasteners.
They were decorative, jewellery-like disks sewn on men and women's clothing. And for almost 3,400 years, buttons remained purely ornamental; pins and belts were viewed as sufficient to secure garments.
The practice of buttoning garment originated in Western Europe. In the 1200's baggy, free-flowing cloths was beginning to be replaced with tighter, form-fitting clothing. A belt alone could not achieve the look, and while pins could (and often did), they were required in quantity; and pins were easily misplaced or lost. With sewn-on buttons there was not daily concern over finding fasteners when dressing.
Thus the modern, functional buttons finally arrive. But they seemed to make up for lost time with excesses. Buttons and buttonholes appeared on every garment. Statue, illustrations, and paintings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries attest to button mania.
In 1520, French King Frances I, ordered from his jeweller 13,400 gold buttons, which were fastened to a single black velvet suit. During the 17th century silversmiths engraved buttons, cabinetmakers carved wooden buttons and weavers wove wonderful fabric buttons.
England in the 18th century began to demonstrate its own flourishing button industry, utilizing many of the new materials then becoming available. Birmingham became famous for its steel and shell buttons, the Midlands for horn buttons made from the antler of stag, and Dorset for their thread buttons. In Burslem, Staffordshire, Josiah Wedgewood began creating his "Jasper medallions".
England developed techniques for stamping, moulding, and casting and pioneered the mass production of buttons, making them available to almost everyone, not just the rich and famous.
One of the differences between French and English buttons was that French buttons usually displayed scenes of romance or the arts, while the English buttons tended toward scenes of country life. Sporting buttons also became popular during this time.
The 19th century brought about a sensible and practical way of thinking and this was reflected in buttons. The French Revolution swept away the extravagant. Buttons were now about half the size of 18th century ones. France was slow to mechanize, so England became the world's premier button maker because of their ability to mass-produce.
England created the first great button sensation of the 19th century - the gilt buttons made in Birmingham between 1797-1800. They were elegant, yet affordable. Sporting buttons, military buttons, and even livery buttons for the household servants were all beautifully crafted and gilded.
In England during WWII, they had "blackout buttons" that glowed in the dark.