Buttonholes of an army infantry officer RIA

Initially, buttonholes on the collars of uniforms were reserved only for officers of the guard and army units who had the patronage of the highest personages, Russian or foreign. During the reign of Alexander II, buttonholes on the collar and cuffs of the uniform were assigned to all army officers in general. The difference between the ranks of the chef's units from others since the 1860s was either in the technique of making buttonholes (embroidered with lace or made of braid of a special pattern, the so-called buttonhole), or in the number of rows of buttonholes on the collar (one or two). Finally, shortly after the general reform of military uniforms in 1907, buttonholes of a single pattern were introduced for all army officers – double, embroidered with a thread in the color of a metal device (gold or silver).

As a result of the 1907 reform, officers' uniforms became more beautiful, but at the same time significantly increased in price: fine sewing was much more expensive than woven braid. For poor officers, the factories of officers' clothes began to make buttonholes from the so-called low-grade silver thread. It was made not on silk, but on a cotton base, with a very thin gold coating. The latter turned out to be fragile, and to this day such buttonholes are preserved, as a rule, with completely lost gilding, however, the yellow color of the warp threads clearly indicates that they were originally gold. The buttonholes were embroidered directly on the cloth of the collar, but the original base was completely lost. To give such buttonholes a collectible look, they are usually mounted on the basis of cloth of a neutral color – uniform or black, as is done in this case. The sloping shape of the back slopes of the buttonholes is a kind of panache, an imitation of the officers of the Guard, which is occasionally found on items of army uniforms.