Hmm. It appears that the theories are indeed servants, side-saddle riding, mass production and some sketchy "historical custom."
Y'all see the man hanging out of the spaceship with the really big gun? Now I'm not saying you weren't easy to find. It was kinda out of our way, and he didn't want to come in the first place. Man's lookin' to kill some folk. So really it's his will y'all should worry about thwarting.
Mal ,'Safe'
Spike's Bitches 28: For the Safety of Puppies...and Christmas!
[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risque (and frisque), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.
Strix - Jan 02, 2006 2:30:08 pm PST #2835 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
§ ita § - Jan 02, 2006 2:31:14 pm PST #2836 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
but the dresses/shirts for women often buttoned down the back
If I'm the maid, the buttons aren't down my back, so whether my left hand is on the button side or the right--still makes little difference.
Trudy Booth - Jan 02, 2006 2:41:38 pm PST #2837 of 10001
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
I was just coming here with Erin's link.
At the end it says Orthodox Jews have the opposite convention. Where's Nilly? And do they just mean Ashkenazic Jews (which happens a lot when something is declared "Orthodox" or "Jewish").
vw bug - Jan 02, 2006 2:44:08 pm PST #2838 of 10001
Mostly lurking...
My step-grandma is in the hospital. They don't know what's wrong, but it doesn't look good.
2006. You suck.
Strega - Jan 02, 2006 2:45:36 pm PST #2839 of 10001
The history of buttons is more interesting than I'd have expected. This article also mentions the sword-drawing issue, and there's a lot of interesting stuff about women adopting male clothing.
SailAweigh - Jan 02, 2006 2:56:53 pm PST #2840 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
I am home from my visit with brenda an tommy. Am Lushed up for a good long time. Yay!
{{vw}} I'm sorry 2006 is getting off to such a bad start for your family.
{{Cindy}} Get-over-it-quick~ma for you and the rest of the family. Ugh.
As for buttons, I know that in the Navy men's and women's uniforms all buttoned opposite each other. Also, the zipper on the dungarees faced opposite directions, so that the shirt overlap and the zip overlap matched up. Then your belt had to be fastened just to one side and facing the same direction as the overlap. It was all called the "gig line." Having your gig line not lined up was a big deal at inspection time. Still, if a girl wanted to wear any of the men's uniform (and I had at least one good friend who did because of her basic body shape), it had to be both shirt and pants so the gig line matched.
DCJensen - Jan 02, 2006 4:15:03 pm PST #2841 of 10001
All is well that ends in pizza.
I seem to have supercharged the cats.
I gave them each a small piece of the jumbo shrimps I had for supper. Now they are wandering all over sniffing the 'frige and around the sink, and looking at me, and smelling my hands, etc. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? MORE!!!!" They blert.
I swear I heard one say "Woah."
Sheesh, it's like catnip.
sj - Jan 02, 2006 4:21:09 pm PST #2842 of 10001
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
The reason that was given to me at one time was that women of means in the old days had someone dressing them, and it was supposedly easier to button for the servant.
This is the one I have always heard too.
{{{vw}}} I'm sorry. Much ~ma to your step-grandmother.
Cashmere - Jan 02, 2006 4:25:10 pm PST #2843 of 10001
Now tagless for your comfort.
Seems like Daniel has unlocked the Pandora's Box of the cat world. You're in trouble now, Mister.
billytea - Jan 02, 2006 4:26:02 pm PST #2844 of 10001
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
Er. I guess I get that, but...99.9% of the guys I've had say this to me, some of whom have been perfectly cool guys, are WRONG. They are not anything of the sort, and using as a "I'm not an asshole like most guys" phrase is just not right.
Yeah, I generally find that I make that point better when not actively sounding like an arsehole (note that Commonwealth spelling there, see how I did that? Not that I have any trouble with you guys spelling it 'sonding').
And! I found the Crocodile Hunter quote I promised, about his best theirloveissopure!! mate:
"Wes and I met up when he was a teenager, and between us we've wrestled and wrangled and tossed more crocs than you could poke a stick at! We've watched each other's backs, and teamed up in every kind of animal situation you could possibly imagine!"
As Pat Robertson might say, "Daynja daynja daynja!"