Button Guides

Backs, materials and motifs — how collectors date vintage buttons, and why unused deadstock is the condition worth hunting.

The tailor's four-step method — anchor, orient, stitch, lock — that keeps a shank button on for decades.

The ten-second rule for choosing between shank, 2-hole and 4-hole buttons — plus the thread-shank trick every sewist should know.

Fronts, cuffs and spares — the exact number of buttons every garment needs, so you buy the right matched set the first time.

Ligne, millimetres or inches — convert between all three, measure accurately, and pick the right button size for any garment.