The London Lounge

How important is it to get the button choice just right? I always get horn buttons on my bespoke projects. Recently, I was trying to get a med. to light grey button with some flecks or marbelling for a pow suit. As horn is not naturally available in the shade I wanted..I looked at imitation horn, but couldn't see what I was looking for. This made me wonder how important the button selection is to the overall look of the garment. There are natural variations in the colours of real horn, even within the same batch. In e.g., a tweed jacket, could it be that the button will blend with the colours of the surrounding tweed pulling it into harmony....or should buttons be picked with extreme care? I know that 1/8 of a inch in a strategic position, can have a significant implication on the look of a suit....I wonder if small variations in colour tone have a big implication also, when it comes to buttons?

To an extent this is inevitably correct - red buttons on a charcoal suit to suggest an extreme.

Assuming that nonsenses of that ilk are avoided I suspect that their is a wide tolerance on the one hand yet beauty is in the eye of the beholder on the other.

The answer I suspect is in the mind of he who commissions the garment and the innate satisfaction he might derive from his choice of button or indeed the precise position size or whatever of any detail.

Button choice can change the identity of a garment.

A button should look as if it had grown out of the cloth, as if it had always been there. It should be both invisible and present, seen and unseen.

It takes a good eye and a bit of practice to get right.

Cheers

Button choice can change the identity of a garment.

That's what I thought. With the variations in buttons ( given the natural variations of the horn) I have not always been entirely satisfied with what I have been sent. Is there anywhere in London where there is a large selection of horn buttons so that I can pick through them by hand and create a good stockpile for myself?

Button Queen in London

IMHO, they cannot make, but can break.

The first bespoke suit I commissioned was a charcoal gray Lesser golden bale worsted flannel. I accepted the suggested dyed natural horn buttons (dyed charcoal gray) which are not uncommonly seen on SR gray business suits. The result was an unexceptionable but uninspiring monotone. By the time I got round to my next gray suit (Oxford gray pick-and-pick) I was at Poole, and Philip Parker specified a dark natural horn button with some flecks. At first I was hesitant because of the amount of brown in the buttons, but when the jacket was finished I was completely convinced. There is a subtle liveliness and warmth imparted by the buttons that really animates the garment. At first glance one wouldn't notice the buttons or their color; one just notices that the dark jacket looks more dynamic than the average member of the genus.

I had similar good results with a natural horn (a mid-tone grade with more streaking) on the original LL Coop tweed. In that case the choice was more organic in that the cloth had one subtle buff-colored yarn in the largely black and pearl POW weave, so that the warmth in the button color was less of a departure--though still not an obvious pairing.

In both cases I'd say the buttons added to, or perhaps fulfilled, the intrinsic quality of the garment, taking it up a notch, so to speak.

Agree and recommend Button Queen near Bond Street station.

Thanks to all. I could never find Weldons. I did find the Button Queen but it was shut ( could have been a Saturday), although admiring the Steinways beside it was a real treat. Anyway, the Button Queen will be my first port of call when next in London, and thanks!

rodes wrote:IMHO, they cannot make, but can break.

Their inability in making an outfit would put the modest buttons in the company of, well......everything else. Nothing can make an outfit by itself if the rest is not in line. The only factor that has singlehandedly helped me in the past to make an otherwise flawed outfit is attitude (and this, only sometimes).
While buttons cannot make an outfit by themselves, I recognize the concept expressed by Alden regarding change of identity. In an experience similar to Couch´s, a few years back, just by substituting brownish natural horn buttons for the original dark blue ones on my RAF blue DB suit I have IMO successfully transformed the identity of the garment. What it used to be very proper and conservative now has an edge of casualness which enhances the bespoke nature of the suite. Some might think that I broke the outfit. I want to believe that the new buttons better convey my style.

Thanks to all. I could never find Weldons.

Weldons closed their London shop awhile ago. A pity.

Rowly wrote:How important is it to get the button choice just right? I always get horn buttons on my bespoke projects. Recently, I was trying to get a med. to light grey button with some flecks or marbelling for a pow suit. As horn is not naturally available in the shade I wanted..I looked at imitation horn, but couldn't see what I was looking for. This made me wonder how important the button selection is to the overall look of the garment. There are natural variations in the colours of real horn, even within the same batch. In e.g., a tweed jacket, could it be that the button will blend with the colours of the surrounding tweed pulling it into harmony....or should buttons be picked with extreme care? I know that 1/8 of a inch in a strategic position, can have a significant implication on the look of a suit....I wonder if small variations in colour tone have a big implication also, when it comes to buttons?

Imho, plastic buttons blemish a well made suit, especially if they are thin. I like thick horn buttons at the front and on the sleeves. I prefer muted. In terms of using color, I think not to the point it draws attention to itself but if it subtly complements the cloth that could be sharp. For shirts, I like MOPS. I always thought Kiton does a cice shirt button. Masculine but refined and a bit thick. I think Kiton uses seashell.

Masculine but refined and a bit thick.

That sounds like me alright!....I'll have to look out for these buttons