The London Lounge

I am presently having a DB summer suit made from Minnis blue fresco 0520 and am considering asking for brown horn buttons. My hope would be to get double the use by employing the coat as an odd jacket. I would appreciate any thoughts on the matter.

I am about to pick up a SB jacket from the same cloth and I did not select brown buttons for it. I simply don't like the look of blue and brown combined but I know that this is a matter of personal taste (or dilemma). I hesitated between black buttons and dark blue ones and finally opted for the last. Although my mind says 'no' I have seen successful examples of a blue odd coat with blue buttons. These were not navy I have to say so I might regret my choice. If I do I will get black buttons instead. I suppose both black and blue will work well in the case of a navy suit.

Would you mean something like this image from the Drake's blog?

Yes, fairly close. The cloth is a touch darker and the pockets are standard. Thankyou.

Rodes, I think you had a good idea.
Dark brown buttons work well with a blue suit, particularly if it is a summer one and even more if it has a DB jacket. Those brown horn buttons will cut down on the formality of the suit adding a certain panache to it and, at the same time, enabling the jacket to play the role of an odd coat much better.
Since you have chosen the Minnis blue fresco 0520, I believe that even lighter or medium brown buttons (maybe with specks) would work very well.
Since you want your jacket to double also as an odd summer coat, and taking into account that blue fresco is rather plain, to avoid the "orphan jacket" effect I would advise for adding some uncommon character to the jacket. If it's not too late now, have you consider patch pockets seriously? I believe they would be perfect in this case. What about spalla camicia?

Manton posted pictures of a blue suit with brown buttons that he dubbed his blazer suit years ago. You can see it here: http://www.styleforum.net/t/71198/the-a ... lazer-suit

Another option is Steed's Swiss Army Suit. Basically it's a suit with interchangeable buttons. The only issue with this approach is that it has to be a one button suit.

The examples posted by rogiercreemers and kayak1 demonstrate IMO that in this case the DB stance makes all the difference in the world.
It transforms the blue suit with brown buttons from "utilitarian outfit for the traveling man" into a much more stylish (and still practical) garment.

Excuse me, Rodes. I mistakenly took the fresco 0520 for the navy variant but I seem to have confused it with the 0516. It does not change my personal view on the matter much but I do see brown buttons working very well, particularly in the way Hectorm suggests using a lighter shade with some specks.

Thankyou all for the thoughtful replies. Have decided to give the brown horn buttons a go. It was too late to request patch pockets but that may well have been somewhat better for my intended purpose. I'll keep you informed.

rodes wrote: It was too late to request patch pockets but that may well have been somewhat better for my intended purpose

I didn't quite understand, What may have been better for your purpose? To have the patch pockets or the fact that it was too late to request them?
If you really think that patch pockets are the better option, I believe it's never late for having them. Ample patches like the ones in rogiercreemers handsome picture could be applied without altering cut or darts (but your tailor has to tell you about the flaps and openings). If you do it, you will have the only jacket with true patch pockets.

Blue Suit + Brown Buttons = Brown Shoes. Right?

Taller

Not necessarily. See the photos and read various use cases Manton posits for his blazer suit above. If the horn is as dark as Manton's or darker, the choice of shoe (and belt, if relevant) color can be governed by the garment cloths rather than the buttons. So for a navy blue fresco suit (I haven't seen the Minnis cited), black shoes would be perfectly fine. I have an oxford gray sharkskin suit for which the Poole tailors selected very dark brown (sort of charred-expresso color) buttons with just a few lighter flecks. From a few feet away, the buttons just read as "dark." They provide only enough contrast in hue to keep them from looking "dead" against the very dark cloth. I'd be very unlikely to wear brown shoes with this suit, and if I did they would have to be a similarly expresso-like very dark brown. If the OP's jacket can be worn with lighter trousers (medium to light gray, tan, khaki), then richer brown shoes could be on the menu for that configuration.

If the horn buttons are a much lighter and/or more richly colored brown so that they make a dramatic contrast in hue with the jacket cloth, and the jacket color is lighter than true navy blue, then the call for shoe color gets harder to make, and I, at least, would need to try out the specific items to see whether black shoes would make the grade. But most good tailors offer natural horn (as opposed to horn dyed a uniform black, blue, or dark gray) buttons in a range of shades and hues, and it should be easy enough to find a dark natural shade that doesn't have the monotony of a dyed button but does not call attention to itself from a distance as a definite brown accent--if the OP wants to retain flexibility in shoe color.

Thanks, Couch. So there's no rock-hard 'rule'?
I must say I would feel awkward looking down at my feet in black shoes if I'd have brown buttons on the blue jacket above them - no matter what colour pants I'd be wearing. And as I'm aware that there are legions of gentlemen who wouldn't dream of wearing brown shoes with blue (or gray) suits, I thought a warning signal was in order.
The brown/black combination may not be obvious from a distance, but one dresses at least as much for oneself as for the rest of the world, n'est-ce pas? I must confess, however, to a general prefence for brown shoes, so I'm biased. (Just got my LL Blazer Blue Linen SB jacket, with brown marbled buttons, to go with... well, you guessed it.)

Taller wrote:Thanks, Couch. So there's no rock-hard 'rule'?
I must say I would feel awkward looking down at my feet in black shoes if I'd have brown buttons on the blue jacket above them - no matter what colour pants I'd be wearing. And as I'm aware that there are legions of gentlemen who wouldn't dream of wearing brown shoes with blue (or gray) suits, I thought a warning signal was in order.
The brown/black combination may not be obvious from a distance, but one dresses at least as much for oneself as for the rest of the world, n'est-ce pas? I must confess, however, to a general prefence for brown shoes, so I'm biased. (Just got my LL Blazer Blue Linen SB jacket, with brown marbled buttons, to go with... well, you guessed it.)

Dear Taller,

at times, when reading the LL, I would wish people would relax a little

The late Hardy Amies framed it nicely: "To achieve the nonchalance that is absolutely necessary for a man, one article at least must not match." There is nothing to add.

We don't want to look like Ralph Lauren models, don't we?`

cheers, David

Taller wrote: So there's no rock-hard 'rule'?

Once you´ve chosen brown buttons for your blue suit –for the right reasons, I hope, if there are any- then it follows that you will be wearing brown shoes with it. Most likely you selected those handsome brown buttons because you wanted to downgrade the formality of your blue suit, or because the blue was a vibrant azurro tone and the buttons were the perfect complement for it, or because it was a relaxed summer suit in textured linen (or a more country suit in blue thorn-proof or even an ocean cheviot), which was “crying” for speckled dark brown horn buttons, or perhaps because of a combination of all these reasons. Therefore, in any of these circumstances, IMO wearing black shoes would be awkward in style and consequence and I don´t think you would like to achieve nonchalance this way. Save the black shoes for your more formal dark blue business suits (pinstripes, chalkstripes, and the sort). Wear your dark brown shoes (or espresso) with the blues for which you have already selected brown buttons. Don´t call it a rule, just my advice. And if you don´t follow it, follow David´s and relax.