The London Lounge

Exceptional work , excellent balance and a truly beautiful design .!!!!
I would have chosen different buttons , the mat black ones look like plastic to my eye and they downgrade the whole just a tiny bit ..

Regards
Vassilis

Like Vassilis, I am not keen on the buttons but the coat is superb! My congratulations! I think I am suffering from overcoat envy!

Andy

I can only echo the praise in the above posts. The coat certainly maintains the exceptional standard set by the cloth.

Not to contradict your views but just out of interest - Vassilis & Andy - what buttons would you have picked?

Regards
Russell

I am going to guess the buttons are horn, 45', up4 , unpolished in Navy blue. Its the best choice for this coat unless you can find vintage buttons.

Cheers

Ι would have used black horn polished or even a black and grey mix horn polished and although Michael disagrees the unpolished mat buttons don't do justice to this coat in my view ..
Vassilis

Hi Vassilis,

I put all kinds of buttons up to the Everest blue. Both the black matte and polished gave too much of a contrast against the color of the blue cashmere. I also tried Windsor's plastic buttons in black with a similar result. The color that worked best was navy blue horn. But neither polished or matte was perfect. The polished was too flashy, and the matte was too dull. Both took away from the beauty of the cloth. A quandry....I would probably have chosen the lesser of the two evils with the thought that the matte's dullness took less away.

We should start a Button Club to get access to quality buttons. I do not know where to find black and gray mix horn buttons. They sound perfect for the Etna 2 gray and lovely for gray flannels, worsteds or tweeds.

Cheers

alden wrote:But neither polished or matte was perfect. The polished was too flashy, and the matte was too dull. Both took away from the beauty of the cloth.

Would a navy button with a matte centre & a polished rim be a good compromise?

I’ve seen illustrations of brown buttons with polished rims/matt centres (but not found a supplier) - perhaps similar finish navy ones are available somewhere?

yialabis wrote:Ι would have used black horn polished or even a black and grey mix horn polished

I agree with Vassilis. IMHO the polished black horn would have added a nice balance to the black velvet (?) collar. Front and back.
But no matter which buttons, congratulations to Mr. Matthews on this masterpiece and to the bespeaker, I wish him a cold winter.

alden wrote: We should start a Button Club to get access to quality buttons. I do not know where to find black and gray mix horn buttons. They sound perfect for the Etna 2 gray and lovely for gray flannels, worsteds or tweeds.

Dear Michael,

there is no decent tailor where I live, but a very knowledgeable button lady - we have spent hours searching nice buttons for LL cloth. So come and visit

Three sources in Germany: http://www.naturstoff.de/shop/Knöpfe/Ho ... 134/c.html
http://www.knoepfeversand.de/knoepfe/hornknoepfe
http://www.hornknoepfe.de/shop/category ... =cid%3D%26

Cheers, David

Hi guys

Thanks for the positive comments.

A note on the button choice.

I wanted a button that would echo the softness of the cashmere as I felt a shiny button would be a little too overpowering. One thing I do know about horn buttons (which heavily influenced my decision) is that they get better over time. If you hold a matt horn button between your thumb and forefinger and give it a little rub, the natural oils in your fingers give a dull button a slight sheen. This sheen brings the button to life in just the right way so what you get is a combination of the two, not too dull and not too shiny...the perfect balance. Over time with handling, these natural oils will make contact with the overcoat's buttons and it will enhance them.

Every little detail is a well thought out process.

Yet another reason to back up why bespoke garments get better over time.

Thanks

Karl Matthews

@ davidhuh:
Thanks for that site. Definitely one for earmarking.

What's is probably of the most positive thing in this forum well kept by the founder and most of the members over the years is that diversity is honored. Different views and tastes are honored when they are voiced to support the dialectic process of learning. Still not convinced about the buttons , I'm glad we have started a new thread on searching for good quality ones and Michael , what a great idea it would be to have a few club buttons .

Regards
Vassilis

If you hold a matt horn button between your thumb and forefinger and give it a little rub, the natural oils in your fingers give a dull button a slight sheen. This sheen brings the button to life in just the right way so what you get is a combination of the two, not too dull and not too shiny...the perfect balance. Over time with handling, these natural oils will make contact with the overcoat's buttons and it will enhance them.

Karl

Some Italian tailors dunk the matte buttons in olive oil to give them the not too dull not too shiny look. I am going to give it a try. Heck I have olive oil.

Cheers

Michael