The Button Lady

I went over to F&S Fabrics on Friday with a friend who was looking to reline a new jacket and an heirloom coat. She also wanted to get new buttons for both. Naturally she went to F&S, because the Button Lady works there. She works behind a long row of glass-topped showcases and in front of a wall of buttons sorted into narrow cardboard boxes. The Button Lady has a system for classifying her buttons, and as I waited - it was a busy afternoon - I considered what her system might be. I never did figure out even the least of it.F&S Fabrics has been on Pico Boulevard (near Overland Avenue) since 1956, currently spilling out into three locations within a few hundred feet of each other. The Button Lady has been behind the counter at the original corner location since early 1990, having been hired for her remarkable memory and her even more remarkable ability to make picking buttons for a 40-year-old coat an occasion for small-scale joy.

The Button Lady is Shirley Savoy - a name that would fit wonderfully on a mid-century movie theater marquee. Ms. Savoy is from the South, which you learn instantly from the music in her speech. She claims a near psychic ability to match button and buyer, but I'm skeptical.

Ms. Savoy doesn't sell buttons, exactly. She has a conversation with the button seeker that almost always involves everyone at hand. At the conclusion of this conversation, it will always turn out that a set of buttons has been sold. It will be a perfect set of buttons, because the button seeker and Ms. Savoy will have invested bits of plastic and plated metal with the bright glow of style. They'll have done this together, the seeker and Ms. Savoy, and when the tissue wrapped package of buttons is taped up and put in a bag, the seeker will turn away from the counter still wreathed in some of that stylish glow.

Ms. Savoy has plenty of style to share, but it's important to come to her counter with the proper readiness. For one thing, be ready to slow down. Ms. Savoy will need some of your time to read what your garment lacks in buttons. It's a given that those that came from the clothing manufacturer are entirely wrong. Ms. Savoy also needs time to read you. Your aspirations for the garment are important to her. And if you don't know what your aspirations are, Ms. Savoy's hands will play over her wall of button boxes, pulling down just one or two. And from them, she'll draw buttons to show you just what your jacket or coat can hope to be.

After they agreed on the buttons for my friend's jacket and coat, Ms. Savoy had recommendations for lining material. She approved of the leopard print I tentatively suggested for the vintage camelhair. I beamed. She wavered on my friend's early choices to reline the black jacket. A silk floral print in colors of cream and old gold was handed around and Ms. Savoy pronounced it perfect. We all did.

The image on this page was taken by flickr user Nicole Vaughan. It is used under a Creative Commons License.