Can buttons make or break an outfit?

[hectorm]

Imho, plastic buttons blemish a well made suit, especially if they are thin.

Just the mere mentioning of the word "plastic" in the same sentence with "a well made suit" makes it difficult to disagree with that point of view.
I tried to find in my own wardrobe an exception to the "blemishing plastic" rule, wondering if there was actually some case in which the use of the artificial material (instead of horn, leather, wood, silk, etc) was justifiable and even desirable for a well made garment.
The white "non-horn" buttons on my blue/white seersucker suit look very nice. I also have "non-horn" buttons on poplin suits and on a very old madras jacket, and they look very appropriate too. Finally, on my peacoat I proudly wear black anchor molded plastic buttons purchased originally from Gieves and Hawkes. No horn button could play the part so well here.

[couch]

Good points, hectorm. White mother-of-pearl buttons for seersucker can look very well. And many tailors including Poole use appropriately dyed MOP buttons for the tabs on DAKS-top trousers, including suit trousers, presumably on the theory that they are less likely than horn or bone to break during cleaning or pressing--otherwise it would make sense to match the horn buttons on the jacket.

In this thread Michael confirms that both Scholte and Anderson & Sheppard used plastic buttons for many years, though A&S now seems to use horn or bone on most jackets, including seersucker (see the written captions to the photos in the "House Style" section of their current web site).

[alden]

Yes, plastic was good enough for Windsor.



And A&S still use plastic buttons on their suits unless their clients specify otherwise.

A&S also have the peculiarity of using two hole horn buttons on their jackets.

Cheers

[dempsy444]

These Cifonelli horn buttons are nice

http://www.permanentstyle.co.uk/2012/02 ... etail.html

[hectorm]

Good eye, Dempsy.
The trick of polishing the outside of a horn button rim, leaving the inside matte -besides adding some extra visual interest- IMO immediately creates the illusion of "vintage" (that would be the way an old button handsomely wears out).

[couch]

A&S also have the peculiarity of using two hole horn buttons on their jackets.

I used to think this was a uniquely A&S touch, but my four Poole jackets and one from Steed all have two-hole buttons, and in none of these cases did I specifically request them. As an A&S alum I'm not surprised that Edwin would continue the tradition, but I was surprised at Poole. Perhaps it was a personal preference of Philip Parker, who I believe specifies his own trimmings. When I'm in No. 15 in June I'll have to look and see whether any of the other cutters' work has four-hole buttons, or whether they've bet the house on deuces.

[hectorm]

Anderson & Sheppard used plastic buttons for many years, though A&S now seems to use horn or bone on most jackets, including seersucker (see the written captions to the photos in the "House Style" section of their current web site).

Interesting that for the DJ on the same section of the A&S web site, they advertise that black horn buttons were used for the jacket when they say in the second paragraph that they are all covered with corded silk. Must be an instruction given by Ms. Rowland in case you wondered what A&S was putting inside these days.

[dempsy444]

The trick of polishing the outside of a horn button rim, leaving the inside matte -besides adding some extra visual interest- IMO immediately creates the illusion of "vintage" (that would be the way an old button handsomely wears out).

Thanks:) I like the mix of matte and polish. I think it complements this jacket well, and now that you point it out I can see the vintage look. Something to file in my memory.

[gherrmann]

A&S also have the peculiarity of using two hole horn buttons on their jackets.

I used to think this was a uniquely A&S touch, but my four Poole jackets and one from Steed all have two-hole buttons, and in none of these cases did I specifically request them. As an A&S alum I'm not surprised that Edwin would continue the tradition, but I was surprised at Poole. Perhaps it was a personal preference of Philip Parker, who I believe specifies his own trimmings. When I'm in No. 15 in June I'll have to look and see whether any of the other cutters' work has four-hole buttons, or whether they've bet the house on deuces.

I'm pretty sure it is standard operating procedure at Pooles to use two-hole horn buttons. I had a few suits made there, and all of them have those buttons.

[rrosals]

Interested on everyone's thoughts of these dyed horn buttons.

[davidhuh]

Dear Rrosals,

nothing against the buttons, but for my eyes and taste, they look too flashy on this cloth. When I see the cloth, I see a lounge suit for business, and the buttons should probably be dark grey, growing out of the cloth.

cheers, david

[Slewfoot]

Dear Rrosals,

nothing against the buttons, but for my eyes and taste, they look too flashy on this cloth. When I see the cloth, I see a lounge suit for business, and the buttons should probably be dark grey, growing out of the cloth.

cheers, david

I tend to agree. The buttons seem to have almost an olive tone to them making me think they'd work well for some sort of tweed that has a hint of muted green.

[rrosals]

It may be the lighting because they look almost black in real life. I picked this color because thought they were more conservative than dark brown horn. I will try to take another picture.

[rrosals]

With flash. Still think they are too flashy?

[davidhuh]

Dear Rrosals,

what we see here is how difficult it is to make a judgement based on a picture...

The colours I see on the second photograph tell me "dark blue cloth & dark grey horn buttons". Looks like a perfect match to me

cheers, david