All Buttons Great and Small: A compelling history of the button, from the Stone Age to today

by Lucy Godoroja

Overview

Have you ever looked at a button and wondered about its history's Where it’s from? The craftmanship involved in its creation? In A Button a Day, author Lucy Godoroja takes readers on a visual tour of buttons great and small, offering fascinating insights into their peculiar history and sharing an appreciation of their design and meaning.

From the exquisite to the different to the ordinary, the study of buttons offers a world of delight. This collection of quirky and beautiful images alongside intriguing stories veers away from antiques to focus on modern creations, giving Godoroja a newfound wealth of button design, material and meaning to discuss.

A Button a Day showcases the craft and production of contemporary buttons in the hopes of inspiring a new era of button makers, admirers, and users. There is an exciting challenge ahead, with the fusion of old and new technologies and the issues of sustainability which have permeated the fashion world.

This celebration of the humble button highlights its beauty, versatility and longevity — when a garment is no longer wearable, the buttons may live another life, no matter if they are transferred to a piece of clothing, used in jewellery making, or featured in an artwork. Full of fascinating facts and crafty inspiration, it is the perfect gift for designers, sewers, collectors, and anyone else who shares an interest in buttons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781925820836
Publisher:	Exisle Publishing
Publication date:	10/31/2023
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	7.25(w) x 9.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lucy Godoroja has always had an interest in the creative process, whether through the handcrafts of sewing and needlework or jewelry making, to the design of large or small objects. She also has a great love of travel and adventure; born in Canada, she came alone to Australia at the age of 23, moved to the Netherlands at 24, then returned to Australia after 4 years. A serendipitous meeting in Amsterdam with a button shop owner renewed her passion for this small, innocuous object, inspiring her to open her own button shop in Newtown, Australia, called ‘All Buttons Great and Small’. There followed both a career path and a life of shared stories and exchanged ideas … and buttons. Lucy has been published in collections about fashions, jewels, shops and travel, and A Button a Day is her first book.

Editorial Reviews

This is a serious book, albeit a very personal one, and one that would serve well as a reference book for anyone researching buttons and their history.” – Button Lines  

“Lucy Godoroja was unexpectedly introduced to the fascinating world of buttons in the late 1980s, in Amsterdam's old canal district. She got hooked on these tiny treasures, buying an entire warehouse of buttons, sight unseen, from a button merchant's daughter in Milan. Lucy managed to get this precious stash of buttons to Australia, where she's been running her own button shop in Sydney's inner west for 30 years now” - ABC Conversations

“This fascinating book full of colorful visuals from author and expert Godoroja explores the history of the button, the amazing craftsmanship and artistry in button-making and how buttons tell us so much about fashions of the day. As Martha Stewart once said, “Buttons are the fossils of the sartorial world, enduring long past the garments they were designed to hold.” - Parade Magazine

“Depicts the peculiar history of the button, offering a world of delight” - Classic Chicago Magazine

“Such an entertaining and well written book” - Blue Wolf Reviews

“This richly illustrated book offers a history and celebration of the humble button, highlighting its beauty, versatility and longevity. It's full of fascinating facts and crafty inspiration - perfect for sewers, collectors and designers.. " - The Senior

From the Publisher