Back Closure

A back closure is a fastener (such as a zipper or button(s)) on the rear of a garment, most commonly one made for females. They were a common feature of women's and girls' clothes in the past, and were the preferred choice of some women for more dressy occasions. Their use by fashion designers mostly declined toward the end of the 20th century in favor of clothes that are easier for women to dress themselves in. Today, they are rarely found on any daily women's clothes, with the exception of bras, skirts, and certain other items that can be reversed so easily, thereby not requiring "reaching in back" to fasten. But they are still found on clothes worn by adult women for various special occasions, and on regular clothes for small children of either gender and on certain specialty garments.

female t-shirtBack closures throughout the past several centuries have been common on clothes designed for females of all ages, including dresses, skirts, jumpers, blouses, sweaters, and sometimes slacks, and on certain unisex clothes such as infant and toddler wear, costumes, wetsuits and special-needs outfits. Though usually a feature of a garment's designs for stylistic reasons, some back closures can be difficult or sometimes impossible for the wearer to operate oneself, a factor that has favored their phase-out.

In earlier centuries, buttons found on the back of a dress as opposed to the front were originally intended to give the appearance of wealth in a woman, as wearing such a garment implied the woman could afford servants to help her dress. Back closures on female clothing remained common in Western fashion even through the Industrial Revolution, when servants became rare except to royalty and the wealthiest of women. Even then, back closures were still favored by women who wanted to appear wealthy or more attractive. It is for this reason that back closures have more often been associated with clothes intended for nicer occasions, such as formal occasions, religious services, or professional wear.

During the 20th century, however, they were opposed by feminists. In the 1970s and 1980s, women began taking on a wider range of activities and professions and began dressing to suit their more independent lifestyles. The use of back closures declined as casual wear, sports wear, and other styles of masculine origin influenced women's fashion design and became the norm for everyday wear and more acceptable to wear in the work force, and women and girls began wearing more comfortable clothing which they could easily dress themselves in without assistance.

Certain types of women's clothing, however, continue to feature back closures out of this tradition. Formal wear such as evening gowns and wedding gowns, for example, frequently fasten at the back. Many summer dresses, especially in petite sizes, feature back zippers, though in recent years, fabrics that can retain these styles without the use of a zipper have been developed. Back closures also remain commonplace in some everyday garments that can be donned backwards and then reversed, such as skirts and bras, or that can be slipped on/off without the need for a closure, where they only are present for stylistic purposes.


Back closures are frequently chosen today by dress designers for aesthetic reasons, especially in haute couture, where practicality is less important. This allows for a smooth and solid front to the garment that is not interrupted by fasteners or openings. On thinner and more fitted garments, the bulk introduced by a button placket or a zippered seam may also be deemed less conspicuous when worn at the back.

The zipper was initially popularized as a fastener for men's trousers. Though at first opposed on women's clothes due to the suggestiveness of speedy undressing, ultimaely became popular on women's clothing, particularly dresses, in the late 1930s, for their convenience over hook and eye fasteners, buttons and snap fasteners, hence the now obsolete term zipperback dress. Zippers are typically placed at the back seam of a dress. Some such garments may sport decorative buttons, lacing or mock closures at the front, but actually open at the back.
Skirts with back zippers continue to be commonplace, especially in career lines. They are likely to remain long after other garments with back closures lose popularity because they allow for a woman to easily dress herself. The wearer can simply put it on backwards (with the zipper in front), zip it up, and rotate the skirt 180 degrees until the zipper is in its correct place. While many fitted skirts in the past had back zippers accompanied by a single waist button, most of those today are paired with a hook-and-eye closure.

Though skirts are currently the most common place for a back zipper, many skirts are made in alternative styles. Other skirt closures that are popular today include a front fly similar to those found on pants (which is common on jean skirts), a side zipper, or a column of buttons in front. Many skirts, especially in plus sizes, feature an elastic waistband and no closure.

Prior to the existence of the zipper, buttons were the most common back closure found on women's clothes. in the past, a dress was usually made with buttons covering the back from the neck down the waist, or several inches below. A blouse contained buttons down its full back. But later in the 20th century, garments for women were made with fewer buttons.

Toward the end of the 20th century, the keyhole button closure became popular on dresses and blouses made of nylon or silk, popular fabrics at the time. These garments, which had a roomy fit, were made to be slipped over, but the keyhole served simply as a fastener for the neck. Such clothes, mostly a part of a career line, were considered to be of high practicality. They could be worn interchangeably as casual clothes, and were easy to dress in, since they only required the fastening of a single button in a place that was easy to reach. This, combined with their T-shirt-like comfort and low cost, made them a popular choice for working women for a few decades. Since the 2000s, keyhole blouses have been replaced with sweater and T-shirt-like blouses that are elastic and are simply pulled over with no closures.

Some variations of the keyhole were blouses or dresses that had two or three buttons in back. Others had a fitted turtleneck-like collar, accompanied by either a single button or buttons covering up to the top half of the blouse. Some blouses were made with a full length of buttons, but with a roomy fit, allowing them to be donned and removed with just a single button open.

Most bras close in the back with a series of hooks and eyes. Since bras are elastic, they can still can donned with the closure in front and reversed. Some bras have front hooks, and others, particularly sports bras, have no closure at all.[1]

While front closing bras and pull-over bras (commonly known as sports bras) do exist, back closing bras remain the most popular type. JC Penney reported in 2004 that back-closing bras accounted for 62% of all bra sales.

During the 1980s and 1990s, one-piece pants or shorts outfits that had back zippers or occasionally buttons were popular. These posed the problem that the wearer would be required to reach in back to unzip the garment simply for bathroom usage. Only those who were capable of reaching in back to zip/unzip these garments themselves could wear them. These garments are rarely seen today.

In the early 2000s, pants with back zippers, which have existed in the past, were popular. These were easier to operate than outfits with full back zippers.