A suit made of quality should not always have to have buttons made of plastic. Having bone buttons is a preference, but those that have buttons made of bullhorn or bone look more richer and savvy than those that wear plastic.
See this 100% authentic bullhorn button below. Very beautiful right?
Compare this with a plastic button and you’ll clearly see the difference.
Clearly see the differences in buttons? Which one do you prefer?
The plastic button above has become brittle and is chipping away. In addition, the button looks and feels cheap. It also has a shine that obviously shows that it is plastic.
If you choose to get a button made of horn, make sure that all buttons use the same type of bone and color. Here is a snapshot of my sleeve buttons that are kissing. This is from the same blue suit from the very top. The buttons look darker because of the lighting.
Finally, the sewing of the buttons should look like the picture below. All buttons, be it plastic or bone on a dress suit, should be sown on neatly. They should feel strong to the touch and should never feel like it will rip out easily.
Remember that having bullhorn / bone buttons is not always mandatory but these small things add up and can make a difference to the quality of a suit people wear. Some people will say that they don’t even notice the buttons of a suit but that reminds me of the those who don’t even notice the kind of shoes a person is wearing. People will say what they want but if you ask me, I can’t go back to plastic after actually getting some real bone buttons.
Just remember horn or bone are of higher quality and last longer than plastic buttons. They will probably last longer than the suit so recycle them on to a new suit if your suit ever expires!