Strange Upper Button Closer

[chadwick]

These shots (said to be men of the 46th Georgia) are listed currently on Ebay and I found the second image of the individual soldier on the right interesting. Has anyone ever seen a upper button closer like the one in the image on the right? Was this by design or perhaps a self modification?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=130315095925&Category=36039&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2

[FranklinGuardsNYSM]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

It turns up from time to time on military and civilian coats. I seem to remember one on the cover of a book with photos of North Carolina troops, but am drawing a blank.

[Carolann Schmitt]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

It's called a tibi. It appears frequently on civilian vests and occasionally on civilian coats. I've found it most often on images and and extant garments from the 1850s; its use is much less common in the 1860s.

Regards,

[chadwick]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

Thanks for the information. Did the tibi serve a function or was it more of a fashion statement?

[VMurphy]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

Thanks for posting the photos... indeed interesting.
Also notice the "toggle" fastener at the lower part of the shirt opening. It would seem that these alternative fasteners take the place of ties. Since the shirt doesn't over lap, either one of these techniques would be perfect alternatives. This would be an interesting over shirt to reproduce :)

I've seen an orginal woman's wrapper fastened with the "tibbi"...the garment is reversible and I've made 2 reproductions of it...the tibbi is of each fabric on the appropriate side


Regards
Vivian Murphy

http://www.themantuamaker.net

[Ian McWherter]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

It's called a tibi. It appears frequently on civilian vests and occasionally on civilian coats. I've found it most often on images and and extant garments from the 1850s; its use is much less common in the 1860s.

Regards,

In photo analysis I've found tibi's far more common on civilian men's coats, though photographs with them used on vests are frequently encountered. You're very correct with it being more common in the 1850s, but I have seen photographs dating to the 1840s and the 1860s showing its use.

The purpose is purely fashion. The tibi draws the coat together just enough to still display the vest worn underneath and keep the coat it a fashionable position.

[Elaine Kessinger]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

The tibi comes from the earlier eras where a well tailored coat would be almost skin tight. It was used to keep the coat close to the body to show off the tailoring without having to keep the coat buttoned tight. It's use may have continued to give gents that little bit of extra room or as a fashion statement. Perhaps we can persuade Mr. McWherter to chime in with specifics as he's used one to close a lovely linen frock from the early 1850s (?). He talks about it here, near the end of page 1: http://thesewingacademy.org/index.php?topic=526.0

edited: well there you go, he's a step ahead of us. Thanks, Ian.

[Carolann Schmitt]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

In photo analysis I've found tibi's far more common on civilian men's coats, though photographs with them used on vests are frequently encountered. You're very correct with it being more common in the 1850s, but I have seen photographs dating to the 1840s and the 1860s showing its use.

Thanks for the information, Ian. Your collection of images from the 1840s and 1850s is much more extensive than mine and I appreciate your thoughts. The photographs of tibis that I do have also date from the 1840s through the 1860s; it's nice to know the predominance of 1850 images in my studies is concurrent with your research.

Regards,

[fytn5th]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

I find the length of the gentleman's hair more interesting, as we are reading, reminded, reprimanded, that hair should be kept short....

[brown]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

I examined a civilian overcoat with a device almost identical to the tibi used to close the lapels of the coat about the neck. Would that be truly a tibi or does it have a different name?

[Ian McWherter]

Re: Strange Upper Button Closer

I examined a civilian overcoat with a device almost identical to the tibi used to close the lapels of the coat about the neck. Would that be truly a tibi or does it have a different name?

That is an altogether different device commonly found on civilian and military overcoats even to this day. I've always read it described simply as a tab for closing the collar about the neck.