Refresh a coat or blazer by replacing the buttons

The easiest way to refresh a coat, blazer or cardigan is to change the buttons. Standard factory buttons often make a garment look cheaper, and new ones matched to the fabric give it its character back. Here is how to choose the size and style, how many buttons you need and how to sew them on so they hold for years.

Why change the buttons

Buttons take up a few square centimetres of a coat, but the eye stops on them: they sit in the centre, at chest level, and they shine or contrast with the fabric. That is why even expensive wool with thin, light factory buttons looks like a mass-market garment, while a simple coat with well-chosen buttons looks more expensive than it was.

There are practical reasons too. Cheap buttons crack in frost over time, their metallic coating wears off, and a single lost button from a set can never be matched. Replacing the whole set is often easier than hunting for a lookalike. And finally, new buttons change the style of a garment without any alterations: a strict coat becomes dressy with gold buttons, and a blazer looks calmer with matte buttons in the fabric's tone.

Step 1. Measure the old button and buttonhole

The new button has to pass through the old buttonhole and not slip out of it. Measure the old button's diameter in millimetres and, to be safe, the buttonhole length too: the new button should be 2-3 mm smaller than the buttonhole. Button sizes are often given in lignes (Ln); the conversion to millimetres is in our size chart.

Guide sizes for outerwear: coats usually take 40-54 Ln (25-34 mm), trench coats and light jackets 34-40 Ln (22-25 mm), blazers 28-36 Ln (18-23 mm) on the front and 20-24 Ln (13-15 mm) on the sleeve.

Look at the thickness too. A domed or very thick button of the same diameter passes through a buttonhole with more effort than a flat one, so take a size 1-2 mm smaller. A buttonhole is easy to lengthen but almost impossible to shorten neatly, so if you are torn between two sizes, take the larger one as long as it goes through.

Step 2. Count how many you need

• Front: buttons on buttonholes, plus inner ones (a double-breasted coat has a hidden button on the inside).
• Sleeves: a blazer usually has 3-4 smaller buttons on each.
• Belts, pockets, epaulettes.
• Spares: 1-2 buttons in case one is lost. A matching set is hard to find later.

Example: a single-breasted coat with four front buttons, one on each sleeve tab and two on the pockets needs four large and four smaller buttons of the same design, plus one or two spares of each size and as many flat backing buttons for the inside.

Step 3. Choose the style

• Classic and formal: dark shank or patterned buttons, such as the black shank button with a silver pattern.
• Statement: gold or metal-look buttons dress up a plain coat, for example the glossy gold patterned button.
• Exact fabric colour: if the shade you need is not available, take buttons for dyeing, such as the white matte swirl button, and dye them: examples are in the blog's Dyeing section, and the service is described on the dyeing page.
• Natural look: wood and coconut suit wool and tweed. More on materials in «What buttons are made of».

Matching buttons to the fabric

• Tone on tone, but darker. Buttons half a shade or a shade darker than the fabric look refined and do not get lost.
• Contrast on purpose. Light buttons on a dark coat become the main detail: it works best when their colour is repeated somewhere else, in a scarf or a bag.
• Metal with metal. If the garment has a zip, buckle or snaps, choose buttons in the same metal tone: gold with gold, silver with silver.
• Texture with texture. Matte buttons suit napped wool and tweed, glossy ones suit smooth suiting.

Step 4. Remove the old buttons

Slide a seam ripper or small scissors under the button and cut the threads without catching the fabric. Pull out the leftover threads with tweezers. Mark the button positions with chalk so the new ones go exactly in the same places. Remove the buttons one at a time and sew on each new one straight away: you will not have to guess the position, and the closure stays even.

Step 5. Sew the new ones on a shank

On thick fabric a button is sewn with a thread shank: 2-4 mm between button and fabric, so the buttoned front lies flat and the buttonhole does not pull. A button with a loop underneath already has a shank. On a coat, a small flat backing button is sewn on the inside under the button: it takes the load off the fabric. Step-by-step instructions are in «How to sew on a button».

For a coat, use strong polyester or button thread in the colour of the fabric, not the button: the stitching then stays invisible on the inside and on the front.

Cardigans and knitwear

On a knitted cardigan heavy buttons drag the fabric down and stretch the buttonholes. Choose light plastic or wooden buttons, and back each one on the inside with a small piece of interfacing or a flat backing button. Make the thread shank a little longer than on woven fabric: knitwear is thicker, and the closure would pull otherwise.

Common mistakes

• Buying buttons without measuring the buttonhole. The button does not pass through or slips out.
• Sewing flat without a shank. The buttoned front puckers, and the threads soon wear through.
• The same size on the front and sleeves. Large buttons look heavy on a sleeve: sleeves need smaller buttons of the same design.
• Thread matching the button instead of the fabric. The stitches show on the inside and on the front.
• No spares. A year later one button goes missing, and the whole set has to be replaced again.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a larger button than before?

Yes, if you lengthen the buttonholes. An atelier can do it, or you can do it yourself by working the lengthened end in buttonhole stitch. See «How to make a buttonhole by hand».

How long does the replacement take?

A coat with four to six buttons takes about an hour, including removing the old ones and sewing on the backing buttons.

Can buttons be dyed to match the coat?

Yes. There are plastic buttons made for dyeing: they take the colour you need, and how to order dyeing is described on the dyeing page. This helps when a coat has an unusual shade that no ready-made button matches. The buttons then look as if they were made together with the fabric at the factory.

Is a backing button necessary?

On a coat or jacket of thick fabric it is strongly recommended: without it a button eventually tears out the fibres and leaves a hole. On a blazer or cardigan it is optional.

Where to buy

All buttons for coats, blazers and suits are in the Buttons section. Buttons are sold by the piece, so you can take exactly as many as you need, spares included. For ateliers, a wholesale price applies from 144 pieces. We ship by Nova Poshta across Ukraine.