Which style of horn button - 2 or 4 hole

[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.

[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.

[DavidS]

...

[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.

[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

[belimad]

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.

[old henry]

Four holes would be more secure, maybe.

[Concordia]

I don't get it.

Sign of the cross.

[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

[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

[old henry]

Which ever you choose run a bit of olive oil into them 👌

[brax]

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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