Love + friendship

BOUQUET

“I inherited a set of four of these buttons from my grandmother in 2011, and when I got married in 2012 I used one of them in my brooch bouquet.

“Our wedding was Steampunk/Victorian Gothic-inspired.”

A PRIZED POSSESSION

“This arts and crafts enamel button was produced for Liberty & Co. After reading about the design, its simple elegance stuck with me for many years. I spotted this example for sale at the annual button convention in Portland, Oregon. Its (entirely justified) cost was several times more than I had ever paid for a button and, after a long internal debate, I decided not to buy it.”

“My husband does not share my passion for buttons so, when he ceremoniously presented it to me on my birthday, I was very moved that he had understood how much this one meant to me. This well-travelled button will be one of my most prized possessions for the rest of my life. I will always wonder if it meant as much to its original owner.”

GOING AWAY

“This was a spare button for my ‘going-away’ outfit at my wedding. It is a covered silk button, 5 mm in diameter.

“The outfit was a two-piece, mainly red silk, a top with matching pleated skirt. The top had buttons at the cuffs and down the back. I gave it away years ago after I could no longer fit in it, so was delighted to discover this spare button recently and am treasuring it to remind me of the original.”

KINDRED SPIRITS

“This button belongs to some beautiful linen curtains that I bought in 2010. My late friend Mary, then in her 70s, was visiting and being incredibly helpful as I settled back into my home, which had been transformed by six months of building work.

“Mary and I shared a love of India, where the curtains were made, and when we spotted them while out shopping we were both attracted to them. The curtains still look great on my French doors and will always remind me of Mary, who was a true friend and had an extraordinary life: born close to the border of Afghanistan in what is now Pakistan, but was then India, she was 11 years old when her family fled to Britain after Partition.”

LA ZIA

“Great-Aunt Marianna, a Venetian countess no less, was mad about buttons and regularly passed on to my mother any she thought would brighten up my clothes. We never called her by her name – she was just known affectionately as ‘la Zia’.

This is a hand-painted button she gave me which I cherish to this day. Zia Marianna was lively and fun, and simply adored my father.”