Have you ever looked at a button and wondered about its history? Where it’s from? The craftmanship involved in its creation? In All Buttons Great and Small, author Lucy Godoroja takes readers on a visual tour of buttons, 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 ranges from antiques to today’s modern creations, giving Godoroja a wealth of button design, material and meaning to discuss.
All Buttons Great and Small also 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 that 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.
Lucy Godoroja has always had an interest in the creative process, whether through the handcrafts of sewing and needlework or jewellery 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 All Buttons Great and Small is her first book.
Button Lines
“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.”
Frankie Magazine
“The Panic Button“ – Button seller and Author Lucy Godoroja unpicks her encounters with koumpounophobics (AKA those with a fear of buttons”
Parade Magazine
“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.”
Classic Chicago Magazine
“Depicts the peculiar history of the button, offering a world of delight”
Canberra Times
“Lucy’s book traces the history of the button from toggle-like objects made from bone or wood or teeth dating back to 6000 BC right through to mass-produced products of today, reflecting the social history as well.”
The Senior
“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.. ”
ABC Conversations
“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”
