I've heard it explained that it's because well-to-do men would dress themselves, but women would have a servant to help, so the buttons were reversed to make it easier.
Curious, I did a search, and found the following, which gives a couple possibilities:
Come to think of it I think I heard that explanation long ago as well (the women having a servant dress them vs men who dress themselves). I never heard of the 'breast-feeding' explanation before.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-20 12:23 am (UTC)Curious, I did a search, and found the following, which gives a couple possibilities:
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20031205.html (http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20031205.html)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-20 11:16 am (UTC)