Long before zippers and Velcro became the standard, getting dressed required a surprising amount of specialized hardware. Among the most charmingly specific relics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is the button hook—a small, ingenious tool designed to fasten tight, high-top Victorian and Edwardian boots.
The Daily Struggle of Victorian Footwear
During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, elegant button-up boots (often called “button boots”) were the height of fashion for both women and men. They offered a sleek, tailored silhouette that laces couldn’t quite match because the hardware was entirely hidden along the side of the ankle.
However, fastening twenty or thirty tiny, tightly spaced fabric or leather loops over bone buttons by hand was nearly impossible—especially with long fingernails or stiff fingers.
How the Button Hook Worked
Using a button hook was a daily ritual requiring a bit of dexterity:
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Insert: You poked the thin, hooked wire tip through the small fabric loop on the shoe.
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Grab: You looped the hook around the shank of the button.
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Pull: You pulled the hook backward through the loop while guiding the button through, snapping it securely into place.
A Forgotten Artifact Turned Heirloom
While button hooks were originally purely utilitarian, they quickly became fashion accessories. Wealthy Victorians owned ornate button hooks made of sterling silver, mother-of-pearl, carved bone, ivory, or tortoise shell, often kept on vanity tables or carried in travel kits.
By the 1920s, as hemlines rose, footwear styles changed, and the zipper was invented, button boots vanished from everyday wear—leaving the humble button hook behind as a beloved antique curiosity.
