Sleeve
Buttons, Cufflinks, and Studs
Defining Attributes
This section covers button-like clothing attachments
that were not actually sewn to the garment. For the most part,
this category consists of pairs of buttons attached by a metal
chain link or bar, known today as cufflinks. Each button could
be inserted into a buttonhole, and the tension between the two
buttons connected by the metal link would hold the garment together.
This closure type was most common for shirtsleeve cuffs starting
in the late 17th-century, but such attachments are also occasionally
depicted at the collar in 17th-century portraiture (See Ferdinand
Bol’s 1669 Self Portrait for use on a man’s collar:
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/SK-A-42?lang=en).
Studs are also included in this section of
the website since they are like cufflinks in the sense that
they help secure garments but are not actually sewn to clothing.
Studs generally have one button-like face that is for display
which is connected by a rigid bar to a back that would not show.
Studs are usually smaller than cufflinks, with a shorter connection
between the two pieces that would secure the garment. Cufflinks
have often been accompanied by matching studs for the front
of the shirt, particularly for formalwear from the 19th and
20th centuries.
Terminology
From the mid-17th century through the 18th
century the term used to describe cufflinks was “sleeve
buttons.” This referred specifically to shirtsleeve buttons
and did not include buttons found on coat sleeves or waistcoat
sleeves. Other terms that have been used are “sleeve links,”
which appears in later 18th-century and 19th-century literature,
and “link buttons,” which may refer to large buttons
for breeches or coats that used the same type of attachment
as sleeve buttons (Luscomb 1967; White 2005).
The term “cufflink” may not have
come into regular use until the late 19th century. The earliest
use of the term cited in the Oxford English Dictionary comes
from the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalog. The shift in terminology
may coincide with the invention of new styles such as asymmetrical
links connected by a rigid bar, or links with a T-post or flip
hinge. These styles were easier to insert through the stiffly
starched cuffs that became popular in the 19th century.
Chronology
References to sleeve buttons have been found
dating back to 1654 (Noël Hume 1961), but they do not seem
to have been terribly common in the 17th century. Instead, ties
or ribbons were used to close cuffs, or the end of the shirt
sleeve was folded up over the end of the coat sleeve and held
in place by wrapping loops on the cuff corners around buttons
on coat sleeves (Figure 1).
In
the last decades of the 17th century, sleeve buttons entered
more widespread use, and in the 18th century they were relatively
common. Sleeve buttons were made in a variety of styles so that
they might accessorize an ensemble like a piece of jewelry,
commemorate an event such as a battle or royal marriage, or
show personal identity through inscribed initials. Some of these
motifs can be used for dating purposes by providing a terminus
post quem if an event is commemorated, or correlating initials
to a known inhabitant of a site.
Some general chronological trends in shape
and shank styles have also been documented. Octagonal shapes
were popular from the early 18th century until about 1760; these
sleeve buttons decreased in size over this period (White 2005).
Oval-shaped sleeve buttons rose in popularity in the mid-18th
century and were most common from the 1770s on (Noël Hume
1969). Flattened U-shaped shanks generally date prior to 1750
(White 2005).
More detailed chronological information for
each individual sleeve button, cufflink, or stud on this website
can be found in the form of context information and site summaries
which are provided to offer details about date of deposition.
How to Navigate the Sleeve Buttons,
Cufflinks, and Studs
