Buttons

Silver buttons were an important element of traditional dress in Spain. Unlike in most other European countries, women were just as likely to wear them as men. Both sexes wore them in extravagant quantities, along the seams of jackets and trousers and in bunches at the wrist, as well as to fasten clothes.

They were rarely sewn directly on to the clothing. In some places people fastened them to their costume with a strip of leather, which ran through the button loops inside the garment. More commonly they used T-shaped toggles permanently attached to the button.

Filigree buttons were used throughout Spain and Italy, and it is sometimes difficult to tell where they come from if they have no silver marks. The open pattern of these buttons is typical of Spanish work. The same pattern is often found on rosary beads and the tops of hairpins.