When I was a child I asked my mom why a bellybutton wasn’t called a bellysnap so why would I not wonder why handkerchiefs were square?! So for the curious kids like me out there I thought I would give a short history on how the handkerchief got its shape. Handkerchiefs have been around since the early 16th century when they went from being hidden in pockets to becoming a true fashion accessory. Historians (and Fashionencyclopedia.com) say that handkerchiefs got their shape after Marie Antoinette decided that the handkerchief should be square to make it more aesthetically pleasing. She was tired of all the different handkerchief shapes that were being made; rectangle, oval, round. King Louis XVI published a decree ordering the length of the handkerchief to be equal to its width and the handkerchief has been square ever since!