Although the button has clearly been a mainstay of the clothing industry, it has long been much more than a mere fastener. In fact, it has gone from an object of utility to one of embellishment, and today it adorns everything from apparel to home appointments.
Indeed, buttons now routinely ornament items that range from baseball caps to sneakers. Or even other buttons: Fitted with special backings, they can cover the more mundane varieties found on an old shirt. And they can even be timely. Howard Kaplan, vice-president of Henry Kay Jewelers, points to a special holiday button watch made last year by Swatch that sold out almost immediately and is now reselling for ”several times its original price.”
And although the 18th Century was the golden age of the button, as pointed out by authors Diana Epstein and Millicent Safro in the recently published ”Buttons” (Harry N. Abrams Inc., $49.95), this mesmerizing little item has been undergoing yet another renaissance.
Epstein and Safro also own Tender Buttons, an intimate little shop they opened in New York in 1964. They came to Chicago almost two years ago with a second, equally interesting store on Rush Street, so Epstein speaks with some authority when she says that ”buttons were on jewelry and clothes in the `80s but are becoming more important in home design in the `90s.”
”There are many ways to decorate with buttons,” says Epstein, who suggests using them to tuft upholstery or trim everything from slipcovers to chair backs. ”I have even seen many larger contemporary pieces such as tables, lamps and chairs that are literally covered with deeply embedded buttons.”
The use of buttons as a motif is a very traditional design idea that probably originated in Victorian times, Epstein says. The current trend stems from a number of factors, not the least of which is ”economics of scale,”
she says. ”People can`t afford to buy expensive antiques right now, but they can buy an old chair and enhance it themselves.”
They can also enjoy both the before-and-after aspects of the project that way, something artists who routinely work with buttons, such as Dianne Vetromile of Massachusetts and Nancy Drew of Michigan, discovered years ago. Vetromile, who turns out larger-scale, tightly crafted pieces that are ornately adorned with buttons, thinks each one ”stands by itself.” In fact, she hand-paints (often with intricate scenes) many of the buttons she employs in her pieces.
Drew, who prolifically produces everything from clothes to furniture, takes another tack. She turns flat objects such as poker chips or dominoes into buttons for her pieces by drilling holes in them. ”They`re appealing because complex personalities need lots of things to look at,” she says, evincing her tongue-in-cheek approach to artwork.
But it would be hard to top Dalton ”Button King” Stevens of Bishopville, S.C., whose button-encrusted works are displayed in ”The Button Lover`s Book,” by Marilyn Green (Chilton, $17.95). He has a car, guitar, coffin and commode that are completely covered with buttons.
RESOURCES
P. 26: Lamp ($85) at The Real Nancy Drew shop; mirrors by Tom Duimstra
(large, $200, small, $125) at Art Mecca.
P. 27: Large pillow by Cynthia Hadesman ($100) at Krivoy, 1145 W. Webster St. Small pillow by Joanne Rossman ($260) at Elements. Clock by Y & L Designs ($55) and creamer by Dianne Vetromile ($55), both at Krivoy. (Swatch
”Bottone” watch no longer available.)
