alternate buttons on Prince Charlie?

**Kriegbert** · 29th October 21, 12:09 AM

Originally Posted by Shinenotburn

Richard,
Here is a project I have been working on lately that seems to fit into this post.

The buttons are somewhat homemade. I converted a set of silver lapel pins (found on line) to buttons by replacing the pins
with silver button shanks and the secured them on the jacket with silver wires and thread.

I forget which sxottish duke wears fish buttons

**Bruce Scott** · 29th October 21, 01:34 AM

Originally Posted by Kriegbert

I forget which sxottish duke wears fish buttons

Sir Lachlan Maclean, 28th Chief of the Clan Maclean, 12th Baronet of Duart and Morvern, and 8th Lord Maclean

**McMurdo** · 29th October 21, 04:08 AM

Originally Posted by Kriegbert

I forget which Scottish duke wears fish buttons

The Duke of Argyll

**DCampbell16B** · 29th October 21, 05:05 AM

There is a story that some friends of one of the earlier dukes had all those buttons quietly replaced with sardines (on cardboard). Heance my reference to "salmon" in the hose thread.

Perhaps he got a new set of friends.

**FossilHunter** · 29th October 21, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

Yes that was the booth I saw last weekend!

Those buttons are very nice. I was quoted $10 each, probably I was looking at the small buttons?

Those Sterling cap-badges are very nice too.

I found this photo online a few weeks ago, I don't remember where. Some nice buttons but I don't know the sizes etc.

I like those round ones if you can remember the website you saw them on.

**OC Richard** · 29th October 21, 04:35 PM

Thanks everyone!!

Just to see what I might see, I visited a local chain of fabric shops, JoAnns.

They had these, which look very nice in person. They have a pewter-y look, but with copper-y touches, hard to describe and harder to photograph.

The small ones are 14mm which fit the buttonholes on my PC waistcoat.

**OC Richard** · 29th October 21, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by Shinenotburn

Richard,
Here is a project I have been working on lately that seems to fit into this post.

That's so cool!

Salmon mythology is one of many things Native American and Celtic cultures share:

http://www.native-languages.org/legends-salmon.htm

**Kriegbert** · 30th October 21, 02:21 AM

Originally Posted by Shinenotburn

Richard,
Here is a project I have been working on lately that seems to fit into this post.

The buttons are somewhat homemade. I converted a set of silver lapel pins (found on line) to buttons by replacing the pins
with silver button shanks and the secured them on the jacket with silver wires and thread.

did you solder those shanks to the backs?

also wondering if you needed to enlarge the buttonhole since it’s a weird shape the button, doesn’t the thin fish slip out?

**Shinenotburn** · 30th October 21, 07:22 AM

Originally Posted by Kriegbert

did you solder those shanks to the backs?

also wondering if you needed to enlarge the buttonhole since it’s a weird shape the button, doesn’t the thin fish slip out?

Yes, I did solder the shanks to the back of the salmon pin and attached the tails with two loops of very thin silver wire to keep the buttons straight when wearing the jacket. As buttons are non functional on a Prince Charlie, there was no need to open the button holes. The waistcoat I am using is a silk one with no back, so the front stays closed all the time as well.

I did try the buttons through the buttonholes and they would worked fine, but I would want them to stay straight, so a fixing them with a couple of toggles per button might be the way to go there - if you were looking for functionality there.

**Kriegbert** · 30th October 21, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by Shinenotburn

Yes, I did solder the shanks to the back of the salmon pin and attached the tails with two loops of very thin silver wire to keep the buttons straight when wearing the jacket. As buttons are non functional on a Prince Charlie, there was no need to open the button holes. The waistcoat I am using is a silk one with no back, so the front stays closed all the time as well.

I did try the buttons through the buttonholes and they would worked fine, but I would want them to stay straight, so a fixing them with a couple of toggles per button might be the way to go there - if you were looking for functionality there.

the double shank sounds like a better idea to keep it aligned, but not too far apart in case you want to swap them back with the regular swuare buttons, you want the button to hide the second unused hole.

On a related note, how do you keep the square buttons aligned? On most jackets I see them out of alignmwnt altogether, on some however I noticed in photos they’re all in an immaculate fiamond arrangement (or square, I prefer the diamond look)