Why DO jeans have little buttons on the pockets?

It’s been the question plaguing fashionistas for years: what are those little metal studs on the pocket edges of our jeans, seemingly good for nothing?

And the actual answer is much more complex than expected.

As denim giant Levi Strauss & Co revealed, the seemingly decorative accessories actually helped bring the original blue jean to birth.

in a post on your sitethe brand explained that the buttons, known as ‘rivets’, were a revolutionary addition that helped hold the pants together.

On May 20, 1873, Levi Strauss, a Bavarian-born dry goods merchant headed for San Francisco, and tailor Jacob Davis received a patent for the design.

The idea initially came to Jacob when a worker’s wife asked him to make a pair of pants that wouldn’t come undone.

The rivets, he reasoned, would help hold clothing together “at stress points, such as pocket corners and the bottom of the fly,” the jean makers said.

Jacob approached Levi, a trusted and successful businessman from whom he bought the fabric to make the pants in question, hoping to find a project partner he could trust.

And 150 years later, the iconic design is still a hit, and jeans are a fashion staple.

Despite the fact that rivets have been around for over a century, it seems that their existence still baffles people.

A viral Reddit post from nine years ago, questioning the purpose of metal studs, continues to make the rounds online.

Snapping a photo of the zippers, the curious ponderer wrote: ‘These are on all jeans. Do they have a purpose, practical or not? If not… why are they there?’

While most of the responses were informative, many jumped into the comments to express concerns with the design.

One professional simply explained: ‘Note the location of the rivet on the garment. It is placed close to where the pocket begins so that it can serve as a structural reinforcing component to prevent the pocket from tearing out of the garment.’

However, not everyone was so willing to report.

‘They serve many functions,’ began one. They are there to keep seams and corners from tearing, also to scratch cars and furniture, and finally to pull out fingernails. The original multi-tool.’

“Also to punish you for taking clothes out of the dryer too soon,” added another.

Then a third person kindly wrote: “And to scratch cell phone screens when putting them back in your pocket without looking.”

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