Five Fab Finds and a History Lesson: Zipper Edition

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed)
Aug 17th 2009 at 11:05AM

The zipper was first invented, in a rudimentary form called the "Clasp Locker", in the late 1800s by a man named Whitcomb Judson. Many years later, in the early 1900s, it was perfected into the creation we know today by Swedish immigrant Gideon Sundback and was used mostly to fasten boots. The term "zipper" stuck after B.F. Goodrich used it in a name for a pair of boots showcasing the device (because of the "zip!" sound), and then zippers slowly but surely worked their way into the fashion world as a closure technique that's quick, easy, durable, and effective -- particularly In 1937 when in the "Battle of the Fly" the zipper beat out the button as the favored way to close men's trousers.

Today zippers are everywhere, in every house and on most people in some form or another at any given time. And today fashion designers not only commonly use zippers in their collections but often the zipper is the focal point, there as much for looks as function. See the gallery below for some of our favorite examples.

Gallery: Five Fab Finds: Zippers