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Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:30 pm
by paborden
I'm purchasing a bunch of unpolished horn buttons to send to my tailor, since all they really have in stock is either polished horn or corcorzo the latter of which I have come to very much dislike.
Of these, I can choose either Two-Hole or the traditional 4-Hole button. The 4s are pretty much ubiquitous except for with certain tailors on Saville row. Curious to hear if anyone has any preference or thoughts on which I should go with.
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 3:55 pm
by andy57
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken about this, but (at one point) the convention was to use four-hole buttons on a suit and two-hole buttons on an odd jacket. Personally, it is one of those things that I don't care about. I specify or discuss the color of button I want and I don't care if it's two- or four-hole.
Go with whichever one you prefer.
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 4:27 pm
by DavidS
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Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 5:24 pm
by Concordia
The only weird wrinkle on this I heard from Steed. Apparently, they shipped a suit out to a client after nearly-final fitting and he returned it. Shipped out again, thinking his housekeeper made a mistake: back again.
They knew it fit perfectly, but as they were checking the details, they noticed that the buttons had 4 holes and criss-cross thread. The client was Jewish.
So they removed the buttons and either went to 2-hole or did parallel windings. No more problems.
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:02 pm
by davidhuh
Dear Paborden,
Anderson & Sheppard and expatriates like Steed and Thomas Mahon use 2-hole buttons. All my other tailors use 4-hole. For me, the colour and material have to match the cloth. Button holes are too small for me to worry about
Cheers, David
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 9:47 am
by belimad
Concordia wrote: ↑Fri Jul 19, 2019 5:24 pm
The only weird wrinkle on this I heard from Steed. Apparently, they shipped a suit out to a client after nearly-final fitting and he returned it. Shipped out again, thinking his housekeeper made a mistake: back again.
They knew it fit perfectly, but as they were checking the details, they noticed that the buttons had 4 holes and criss-cross thread. The client was Jewish.
So they removed the buttons and either went to 2-hole or did parallel windings. No more problems.
I don't get it.
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 11:26 am
by old henry
Four holes would be more secure, maybe.
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 5:58 pm
by Concordia
belimad wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 9:47 am
I don't get it.
Sign of the cross.
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 6:00 pm
by Screaminmarlon
Just leave it to the taylor and maybe silently disagree from time to time, until you embrace whatever buttons he chose for you after so many hours of work at the bench
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 8:51 pm
by alden
My Italian tailors have always said that 2 hole buttons are for ladies wear. But as mentioned above A&S use 2 hole buttons exclusively.
My own wardrobe has a mix of both. Just make sure and use good matte, horn buttons in the right color.
Cheers
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 9:32 pm
by old henry
Which ever you choose run a bit of olive oil into them 👌
Re: Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:04 pm
by brax
paborden wrote: ↑Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:30 pm
I'm purchasing a bunch of unpolished horn buttons to send to my tailor, since all they really have in stock is either polished horn or corcorzo the latter of which I have come to very much dislike.
Of these, I can choose either Two-Hole or the traditional 4-Hole button. The 4s are pretty much ubiquitous except for with certain tailors on Saville row. Curious to hear if anyone has any preference or thoughts on which I should go with.
Where are you getting the unpolished horn? My Italian tailor, like yours, likes to use polished horn, too.
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