Nordstrom Trim Fit Dress Shirt – $49.50 (currently not available online)
You buy a shirt. You wear the shirt. Somewhere along the line you lose a button. It happens. But lo and behold the manufacturer has anticipated this sort of catastrophe, and they have provided you with backup. But where do you keep those extras?
The case for leaving the extras on the shirt: When’s the last time you actually lost a button? It’s nice that they provide those, but they’re completely ignorable. Besides, you’re tucking your dress shirts in so no one will see the buttons anyway. In case you ever need one? It’s right there on the shirt.
The case for cutting the extras off: Let me guess. You don’t make your bed in the morning either. Cut the buttons off and store them in a small ziploc bag with the rest of your extra buttons, collar stays, etc… Buttons can sometimes get torn off or flat out destroyed in the wash. Why subject the extras to all that unnecessary wear & tear? It’s like cutting the price tag off your shirt or the label off your suit jacket sleeve. It’s not really yours until you do it.
Your turn. Which philosophy do you subscribe to? Make your case and vote in the comments section below…
.
Huh. I’d never even considered cutting ’em off. Not once.
I’m with OnlyShawn. Never thought about it.
Never occurred to me to cut them–but now I think I might.
I cut them off and put them all in a box.
If you cut them off, they won’t go through the same wear and tear as the regular buttons. Now that might seem like a good idea, but won’t the replacement buttons look conspicuously new on that old favorite? Keep ’em on!
If you travel a lot, you should keep them on. I travel with a small sewing kit with an extra button or two, but these extra buttons don’t always match the ones on the shirt should you pop and lose one.
Agree for the reasons Ben mentioned above.
A bit off topic:
I noticed some buttons handle the press at the dry cleaners better than others; some buttons crumble, some just get thinner. Last night I actually had to replace all the buttons on the front of one shirt (after about 15-20 pressings) – and it wasn’t one of my cheap shirts either. I know certain brands of shirts (the Men’s Warehouse store brand) are made with damage resistant buttons because of this. Anyone else have this issue or do I need to ditch my dry cleaners?
Ditch your dry cleaner. I’ve had Purple Label shirts and I’ve had Stafford shirts; never had an entire shirt worth of buttons fail on me.
Sometimes, you can see what the buttons are made of before you buy. In your case, it might be worth a look.
The perfectionist in me wants to agree with you but actually did this last night and don’t think it’s that noticeable. I was missing more buttons than the shirt came with so I had to substitute buttons that came with another shirt. I moved the buttons from the cuff to the front of the shirt (so they all matched) and put the new buttons on the cuff.
Some of my shirts come this way anyway (mismatched front and cuff buttons), and I used a contrasting color thread intentionally.
I totally cut them off. Nothing like getting a shirt back from the dry cleaning and finding the normal AND the extra buttons busted. Yes I have a special storage container for the extra buttons. It helps me to remember to take them off and remember them for when I need them.
Note: I don’t travel in a way that requires me to have fancy enough attire to where I would need to be worried about buttons on my shirts…
My cleaner told me to leave them on for the simple reason that if they break or lose a button, they will replace it with one of the extras before I pick up the shirt. Otherwise they would have to call me or tell me when I come in to pick up my shirts and then I would have to go back to the sock drawer to rummage around for the right one and bring it back to them or do it myself, but I’d rather their in-house seamstress do it anyway.
I follow a mixed rule. If the spare buttons are on the placket then I leave them there. But if they’re attached to the care label on the side seam then I cut them off and keep them all in a jar- for the simple reason that they can sometimes pinch the skin at the waist.
Agree completely. Never considered removing extra buttons from the placket, but an extra on the seam is unconformable and annoying.
On the shirt they came, and so shall they remain.
Leave them on. I really hate it when they give you extra buttons in a little bag or on a card when you buy the shirt, because I know somewhere there is some unknown place that ‘I won’t ever forget’ with hundreds of these buttons.
I agree with you.Keeping them on ensures that they look the same as the other buttons.
I agree with Ben and Brian. Leave them on as you never know when you need them. When traveling you’ll be happy they are there.
My dry cleaner told me something similar to Brian’s story. If they damage a button they will use the extras on the shirt before I pick it up. If there are no extras on the shirt my dry cleaner will do their best to match the button with what they have but it will never look as good as an original/extra button. This is especially true with buttons that are not the normal pearled or white. If you have a nice shirt with colored buttons you will be happy they used the extras and not some close match.
My really nice shirts have buttons with colors & shapes/ridges I’ve never seen on other shirts. Plus they are stamped with the brand (prada, dolce, etc). I wouldn’t want to see some off color flat button sewn in as a replacement.
Durden, look for a better dry cleaner. My cleaner individually wraps each button in foil and rarely has a damaged button. For suits he told me there are some buttons that are brittle & he will remove brittle buttons before cleaning.
I leave them on, but I enjoy buttons digging into my groin.
Same as OnlyShawn, never considered cutting them off.
Actually just went through this mental debate two days ago. I have never purposely removed them. However, I have never actually used them either. I guess if they rub, dig in or otherwise annoy in the future…I’m cuttin em!
Every time I buy a new dress shirt, I go on safari and kill an elephant. I then whittle a small ivory box from his tusks and store the extra buttons for the new shirt in this box. Oh, and while I don’t always drink beer, when I do I drink Dos Equis.
Hahaha nice
I keep them on personally. Makes it easier for my dry cleaner to reattach missing ones when I take it to get cleaned.
Feel the same way about price tags and pins?
On