How do you button your shirt?

[iago]

Personally, I do it from bottom to top. I do it because I have an easier time lining up the bottom and making sure I don't end up out of sync. One of the guys at work commented he does it from the top, and that I'm weird. That's fully possible, so I'm wondering how others do it.

I can see a strong argument from doing it from the top: if some emergency comes up and you have to run to the rescue half-way through buttoning your shirt, you end up wearing a makeshift cape. And we all know how cool capes are.

So yeah, what d you do?

[Hitmen]

I think in the past 5 years I have worn a button up shirt maybe twice. But buttom to top is the way to go. Also, fuck the top button altogether.

[iago]

Also, fuck the top button altogether.

Agreed. You can look like a nerd AND lose oxygen to your brain!

[Blaze]

Middle to outside.  Heh, now I feel weird.

[Rule]

I wore a button up shirt almost every day for several years.  The 'correct' way is top down.

[Armin]

I honestly can't remember the last time I've worn a button-up, let alone how I buttoned it.

[Newby]

Middle to outside.  Heh, now I feel weird.

I either do that, or top to bottom.

Usually I'll line the shirt up to make sure the buttons are aligned, and since my hands are already on some buttons in the middle... I just button there!

[Towelie]

I do top to bottom, but if its a shirt where the top button basically chokes you, I'll start with the second button from the top and go down, and then come back for that pain in the ass one

[Ergot]

Middle to outside, stopping when it looks/feels too nerdy.

[Blaze]

I honestly can't remember the last time I've worn a button-up, let alone how I buttoned it.

Unbutton?  More like, just rip off and buy a new one.  Unbuttoning is for suckers!

[rabbit]

I button bottom to top.  Especially with 2 or 3 button polo shirts.

[Rule]

lol.... the proper way really is top to bottom, missing however many buttons you want to leave undone on the top.

Anyone who went to a private school, etc., will tell you this. 

Why does it matter?  I suppose you have more control at the top than the bottom, initially, and as the buttons get done up, the bottom ones become more aligned and easier to do.  It's also easier to button correctly.  I guess it is marginally more efficient, over a period of time.   

I'm guessing some people naturally do bottom to top, because they are used to "zipping up".  But do these people undo bottom to top also?

This is serious business.

[iago]

I do up bottom to top (like I said in the first post, it's easier to line up when I can see them), and I undo it from top to bottom (I don't really know why -- my guess is because it's the fastest way to free myself, since the first button = most comfort gain ).

What's the proper way to undo?

[disco]

Random. Sometimes I do top to bottom, sometimes bottom to top, and sometimes middle outward.  The same end is always achieved.

[Quik]

I'm a cholo, so I only button the very top button and leave the rest loose.

[iago]

I'm a cholo, so I only button the very top button and leave the rest loose.

Ah, you wear it like a cape!

cholo = vampire?

[MyndFyre]

Today, I found out a new shirt that I bought recently wasn't button-down - it was snaps - except for the top!  Hail convenience!

[disco]

Today, I found out a new shirt that I bought recently wasn't button-down - it was snaps - except for the top!  Hail convenience!

It's a small thing, but I love the snaps.  So much less effort.

[while1]

Top to bottom.  Just because, going bottom to top doesn't have the advantage of gravity to keep each side flat and taut as I button up each.  Buttoning from the middle or randomly sometimes means I accidentally skip a button hole and then it's misaligned and I have to in the worst case, redo n - 1 buttons (normally it's less than n/2, but depends how awake I was at the time).

[Rule]

I do up bottom to top (like I said in the first post, it's easier to line up when I can see them), and I undo it from top to bottom (I don't really know why -- my guess is because it's the fastest way to free myself, since the first button = most comfort gain ).

What's the proper way to undo?

I don't know if there is a proper way to undo, although I'm sure top to bottom is most common (partly from most comfort gain).  I am guessing the bottom up people are doing it from zipper experience, so based on that, I would have guessed that you undo from top to bottom.  But the comfort gain factor probably trumps zipper habits (even though in this case they work in the same direction).

[Camel]

I usually do the second from the top button (see: gravity and strangle arguments), and then go to the bottom and work my way up. I always unbutton from the top down; same reason as iago gave.