Posted in History & Literature

Lady Godiva

During the 11th century, the town of Coventry was suffering grievously under the earl’s oppressive taxation scheme. The earl’s wife, Lady Godiva, took pity on the people and pleaded her husband to lift the heavy taxes. The husband refused over and over, until one day in exasperation he made a wager: if she would ride through the streets of Coventry naked, he would grant her request. The earl believed that she would never undertake such a shameful, scandalous act. Lady Godiva pondered on the decision for a while, but then agreed on the condition that her husband keep his word.

Rumour quickly spread of what Lady Godiva was willing to do for the sake of her people. Out of respect and appreciation, the people of Coventry mutually agreed to stay indoors behind shuttered windows to preserve her dignity as she passed. On the fateful day, Lady Godiva set out on her white horse, stark naked and only draped by her long luscious hair. The entire town was silent, with every person in their home with the windows closed shut so that the Lady was the only one passing by, with no one to see her. However, one man, a tailor by the name of Tom, could not overcome his curiosity and lust and decided to peep through a hole in his shutter to gaze at her nude body. At that moment, he was struck blind, being punished for his voyeurism (this is the origin of the term “peeping tom”). In the end, the earl reluctantly abolished the onerous taxes, admiring his wife’s bravery and the respect the people had for her.

Posted in History & Literature

Buttons

There is an extremely simple way to tell if a shirt or jacket is designed for a man or a woman – buttons. A male garment traditionally has buttons on the right side while female garments have them on the left side.

The reason for the male garment is that having the button on the right side is easier to button up when dressing oneself (given that he is right-handed). So why is this not the case for female garments? This is because during Victorian times, women were usually dressed by a maid or servant so it would be easier for them to button up a dress if it was on the left side. This theory is very plausible as zippers were not available then and dresses were mostly buttoned from the back. Even when women’s clothing started having buttons in the front, tailors were already accustomed to the traditional convention.

Alternate theories are quite interesting too. It is hypothesised that buttons on male clothing were modelled after a knight’s armour that would be latched on so that a right-handed opponent could not jam their pike through a seam. Contrary to the military origin of the male buttons, female buttons may be placed in such a way to allow the lady to easily expose her left breast – which is closer to her heart – to nurse her baby.

(Source: http://j-jm-m.deviantart.com/art/Button-66176952)