Coat Buttons

[pistolpete1863]

There is a man in my confederate "arty" unit that wears buttons on the inside of his frock coat on both sides lined up right where the buttons on the outside are. On the side with the button holes they are right below where the button holes are. He says that he once saw in a picture where this was done but can not remember what the book was that it was in. I was just wondering if any one has seen this before and if so what would be the reason of having them there.

[Guy Gane III]

Are they the same buttons on the inside as the outside, or are they 4-hole buttons? Just wondering.

[pistolpete1863]

They are 4 hole buttons. From what he could tell the ones on the inside are slightly larger then the ones on the outside.

[Guy Gane III]

If he has brass buttons on the outside and 4-holes on the inside, then I am assuming that they are for reinforcement. I, personally, can not recall having seen them on originals, but I do have some on my modern suits. It puts more pressure on the inner button than on the material.

Hope this helps. Perhaps someone else can chime in and add more.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

Sorry, no...

I am having a hard time mentally visualizing what we are talking about.

CHS

[pistolpete1863]

Guy

That might be the reason for it . Thanks for the help.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

Ah... "click" went the Light Bulb.

Buttons used to reinforce buttons.

Short answer...

No, I have only seen such on modern garments. I have a leather coat where the large buttons are reinforced on the underside with small "4 hole" shirt type buttons to prevent leather tearing.

Refrigerator door closed.

CHS

[Justin Runyon]

Certainly seems to be the case on the right side of this fellows coat, but I have no idea why he would do it on the button hole side.

I've seen buttons on original garments attached in a myriad of ways, but this is not one of them

[1stTexas]

The inner buttons are probably to keep the outer buttons from popping off. I always double-button (inside and out) my waist line buttons to hold the suspenders in the loose weave wool trousers. A lot of stress is placed on suspender buttons and wool does not hold thread very good. I also use stronger upholstery thread on the suspender buttons. I never have done that to coat buttons but it seems like a good idea, especially in some of the garments made of wooljean material that ravels easily. Those people with a big belly especially need reinforced coat buttons..