Know Your Button Materials – Horn, Melamine, Chalk and More

Button up and batten down, we're going through the main types of button materials you're likely to encounter and what they mean.

Albert Muzquiz

Hey, you! Yeah you. You look pretty ungrateful, to tell the truth. You look like the kinda person who doesn’t even care about buttons!

You probably take buttons for granted. You spend all day thinking about weaves, dyes, and the selvedge edges of your favorite garments, but you don’t even wonder what your buttons are made of? The humble button has existed in various forms for roughly 5,000 years, so let’s take a moment to respect this most ancient keeping-your-clothes-on device.

Buttons, despite their long and almost-interesting history, were only used as fasteners in more recent centuries. With the advent of button-holes, people could wear more form-fitting clothes and didn’t have to worry about being pricked with pins or broaches. But it wasn’t until the dawn of the nineteenth century that buttons assumed their most common form: the standard 4-hole button.

Fasten up, we’re about to run down the top types of button materials and where they’re found.

Melamine

Melamine was a material developed by the Watertown Manufacturing Company under contract by the US Navy during the early 1940s. Melamine was first used to make lightweight, durable dishware to replace the Navy’s heavy, fragile ceramic kitchenware, but was soon found to be a more convenient and modern alternative for uniform buttons.

Melamine buttons have a rim around the outside, and occasionally some extra plastic or imperfections left from the molding process. But if you’re really not sure whether or not something is made of melamine, try and light it on fire. The real stuff won’t burn. Melamine also launders well and is pretty strong.

Horn

Horn buttons are typically made from the horns of cattle and water buffalo. Being what is essentially bone, they’re pretty strong. What sets them apart from their artificial cousins is the subtle nuance in color and texture on the surface of the button and around the outside edge. Most formalwear nerds prefer horn buttons on their suits.

Italina horn buttons on a Freenote Cloth Midway wool CPO Overshirt, available from Frankin and Poe for $400.

Chalk/Polyester

Chalk buttons, contrary to their name, are useless for writing on blackboards. They’re actually made from unsaturated polyester resins. They are cast in sheets and then turned and polished. Not especially known for their strength, they’re easily replaceable due to their uniform tone.

Gitman Bros. Vintage x Division Road shirts featuring chalk buttons, available from $230 exclusively at Division Road.

Plastic

Plastic is a relatively new invention, and if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll probably have noticed that the vast majority of buttons are plastic. The first completely synthetic plastic was made in 1904 by Leo Bakeland, and in 1920, he used this new-fangled synthetic material for Bakelite Buttons. There are many different kinds of plastic buttons, and they became more and more common, especially after World War II, but Bakelite was one of the first and most sought-after by collectors. Bakelite buttons are often referred to as ‘urea buttons’.

Buzz Rickson’s BR24961 C.P.O. Shirt “Naval Clothing Factory”, which features plastic Urea buttons, available at Franklin and Poe for $265.

Nut

Nut buttons are a rather broad category, but they’re made from organic plant materials such as the Tagua root (corozo) or coconut.

Nut buttons, also referred to as vegetable ivory, are made from natural, porous materials that take dyes well and have a natural grain. They can be highly processed or left unrefined and natural, as is often seen with coconut buttons on Hawaiian shirts. For those hoping to go green but who value the nuance of a horn button, Corozo is a really good choice. Nut buttons are naturally impact-resistant and launder well.

Sun Surf shirts with coconut buttons, available for $255 from Sun Surf.

Corozo nut buttons on Warren’s Six-Season Flannel, available for $295 from Warren.

Metal

We end with the undeniable victor in the button-strength contest, metal. Metal buttons were most often used in military and workwear contexts where strength was most crucial. Especially for heavier materials, like denim, metal buttons are the best choice for their toughness.

Metal buttons are also shiny! So even though highly prized for their durability, they are used almost as often for decorative purposes. These kinds of polished metal buttons bring buttons back to their roots as a gaudy detail for an outfit more than a pragmatic fastening device.

For a history and primer on snap buttons, check out A History of Snap Buttons

Japanese metal buttons on Freenote Cloth’s 9 oz. Lambert Denim workshirt, available for $280 from Franklin and Poe.

Metal buttons on a Brave Star Selvage Mojave Jacket, available for $168 from Brave Star Selvage.

Like this? Read these:

What Do Cobblers Do? How Shoes Can Be Altered

Slub, Slubby, Slubbiness – Huh?