I LOVE THE BRITISH WRITER, ACTOR AND COMEDIAN STEPHEN FRY WHO IS APPEARING AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE ON THE 27th AND 28th JULY. I LOVE HIS STYLE AND WIT, HIS SLIGHTLY QUIRKY DRESS SENSE, HIS PANACHE AND INDIVIDUALITY.

I also love the BBC quiz programme QI that he chairs which is currently running on the ABC on Tuesday evenings. If you’ve never watched it, give yourself a treat.

You’ll love it.

AT J. H. CUTLER WE ALWAYS USE REAL HORN BUTTONS ON OUR SUITS AND JACKETS AND TAKE GREAT CARE IN ACHIEVING A GOOD MATCH BETWEEN THE GARMENT AND BUTTON AS IT IS NOT USUALLY REALISED HOW MUCH HANDSOME BUTTONS CAN ENHANCE THE LOOK OF A FINISHED GARMENT.

Buttons made from horn date back to the sixteenth century and are one of the less well remembered inventions of the Renaissance. Today they are appreciated for the classic beauty of their colours and many practical qualities. Of great strength, yet stylish and graceful, the intricacies of design and colour can only really be appreciated when one tries to match horn buttons that have been lost. Left undisturbed, they easily outlast the garments they adorn.

Horn used in the manufacture of fine buttons is usually a by product from animals bred or hunted for different reasons. Some of the finest grades of horn come from the wild deer that still roam in large herds through Africa and Latin America. Horn is divided into two sections. The tip with its translucent colours and consistent texture is the most valuable part but the raw material has to under go many processes before it obtains its soft, glossy finish and can be moulded into sturdy horn buttons that remain a symbol of high quality and good taste.