Dress identified - Paul & Joe

We've identified the dress in the last entry as one made by Paul & Joe. You can find it for sale at Net-a-Porter or S|Sense.

Back buttoned on the street

From the Fashion Addict blog comes this photos of a great back buttoned dress worn on the streets of Milan.

Celebrity Sighting: Blake Lively

Blake Lively, wearing a back-buttoned sweater dress at the opening of the Juicy Couture flagship store.

A Few Random Pieces

This set comes from various places.

Fornarina Bond More White T-Shirt @ Sarah Coggles

Tall Button Back Jumper @ Dorothy Perkins


LaRok Dusk Button Back Cindy Top @ LuvCharlie

Brooks Brothers Black Fleece Sleeveless Camelhair Dress
[for some reason they no longer have the back view, unfortunately]


Jill Stuart Dream Mini Dress @ ShopBop

Browns

Here are a few back-buttoned pieces from Browns:

Botegga Veneta Dress With Button Down Back And Belt

Meadham Kirchhoff Long Contrast Knit


Vanessa Bruno Button Back Blouse

Richard Nicoll Sleeveless Satin Top

My Wardrobe

A couple of items from My Wardrobe, including the coolest leather top I've ever seen:

Hannah Marshall Button Back Leather Top

Tara Jarmon Button Up Back Dress


Chloe Button Back Dress

Hair Salon Video

A quick clip of a hair stylist working in a back-buttoning smock:

Another Update

A few more items around the web:

Rebecca Taylor Black Shift Dress @ Fashion Chateau


Alexander Wang Tricot Button Back Sweater Tunic @ Saks Fifth Avenue

Generra Button Back Dress @ 6PM


Sutton Studio Taffeta Dress @ Bloomingdales

Checkered Wool Skirt @ Etsy

Nylon Overall Dress from JMD (French)

A Belated Post - Revolve Clothing

It's been a while since I've posted links to new back-buttoning pieces currently available, so here's an attempt to make up for it. :) These are all from Revolve Clothing.

Whitley Kros Arden Silk Button Back Tee

Camilla Norrback Shirt

Kyumi Button-Back Dress

Da-Nang Button Back Sleeveless Dress

LA Made Button Back Pleated Tunic

Whitley Kros Edgemont Top

Cutout Blouse by Stella McCartney
(note also the lovely rear exposed zipper on the matching skirt)

Unfortunately, these are all designer, fairly expensive pieces. I hope that more affordable lines incorporate these ideas and put out their own versions of back buttoned fashions, which are so noticeably absent from everyday wear.

More coming soon!

A Kindred Blog

For the French speakers, check out Homme Boutonne Dos, a blog about back-buttoning clothing for men (an underappreciated topic).

BTW, in the 19th century, there were formal shirts for men that buttoned up the back - you can still see them occasionally on eBay, such as here. It would certainly be interesting to see a contemporary designer's take on such an item.

A Video and a Discussion

This update comes to us courtesy of contributors to the Buttons up the Back group at Flickr.

Check out this video featuring an unusual back-buttoned outfit:

You can see photos featuring the same at Flickr.

Also, an interesting discussion at eBay regarding the dress/button back jacket combinations that were popular in the middle of last century, such as this:

More Video Finds

Courtesy of the discussion boards at the Flickr group Buttons Up the Back, here are two clips from the 80s soap Dynasty, which was known to feature high-neck, button-up-back outfits:


Also, here's a back-buttoned knit top from Sway & Cake:

BUB Appearance in a Who's the Boss Episode

In this portion of an old Who's the Boss episode, a guest star wears a nicely fitted red satin button-up back blouse.



Update: here's another part of the same episode.

More JCrew

A couple more relevant items from JCrew. First, a cute zebra print dress:

Zebra Print Linen Dress

Then, a bridesmaid dresses that has functional buttons over the zipper, a nice touch compared to the cheap look of faux buttons covering the zipper that you see on a lot of modern wedding dresses:

Sadie Silk Faille Dress

Our First Music Video Find

I thank backbuttoned for finding the first music video I have seen featuring the singer in a back-buttoned top - featured quite prominently for the whole video.

Golden Boy featuring Miss Kittin - Rippin Kittin

Wikipedia link for more info on the star: Miss Kittin