Month: October 2025

Here is a simple MOP buckle looking like an Art Deco style. Some MOP buttons add to the picture. They were good plain embellishments that would go with many different patterned materials.

These three celluloid buckles I think are from the 1930s and have an Art Deco look about them with their geometric patterns. They are different in shape and colour scheme and would certainly add interest to the appropriate dress. I have quite a few buckles and they are as interesting as buttons to collect.

Here are four plastic buckles from around the 1940s. Orange and yellow were not really common colours then; people favoured pink, blue, red and green and black or white were good standard colours to go with many materials. These are two standard shapes and only rely on a little carving or the addition of white to vary them. A buckle could make a real difference to the dress just the same as a good choice of buttons.

Here is a silver buckle in the Art Nouveau style showing fuchsia flowers hanging just like they do in reality. It is backmarked but I cannot read all of it; E.P.N.S. E.G. STOTT . I believe it to be a nurses buckle as worn in the hospitals in the C. 1920s. How fancy these buckles were for nurses uniforms and I have been informed that they were given on the nurse’s graduation day.

This metal picture button features a bird with a sprig of flowers in it’s beak. The background is wood and the brass border is decorative. It is quite large measuring a little under 4 cm. The bird and flowers are quite detailed as are many picture buttons.

Here is one card of my Beatrix Potter buttons showing the date of their production. I am a fan of her works and her illustrations in her little books are wonderful. She was very talented and had a great imagination. There have been many buttons produced showing the different characters of her stories.

Here is a group of new buttons in neutral shades. They are varied designs and sizes and would all be suited to a garment in neutral colours. I occasionally browse in the haberdashery stores for buttons and they are so different to those of years gone by. I guess that is the history of fashion. They are not cheap these days so would certainly add to the cost of a home made garment.

This Studio button has not photographed very well which is a pity. It was made by Shirley Shaw of USA in 1989 and resembles Satsuma buttons in style. It has a crackle glaze and the colours are beautiful. It depicts two Geisha Girls and has a cherry blossom tree on the right. It is truly a collector’s item and measures 5 1/2 cm.

These two enamelled buttons are modern and I think made in Japan. One is a beautiful bright blue with white blossom while the other is red with a white rose. Their designs are quite modern in style. The blue one measures 22 mm and the red one 20 mm and they both have a metal loop shank.

This is one of my favourite buttons and I really enjoy the etching of a Geisha Girl with just a subtle touch of colour. It is beautifully drawn and placed on the button with the parasol as a backdrop. It is a good size measuring 3 1/2 cm.