Buttons are hard to manage for small, medium and large bustlines. If Jennifer Anniston causes a shirt to pucker and pull open . . . Both pattern makers we’ve worked with praise our hook & eye closure (our sewer and CFO have a different response though. Hooks & eyes are cumbersome to sew and expensive to purchase). Buttons have to be relatively closely spaced over the bustline to prevent the gaping, but putting so much pressure on one point of closure – a button – causes pulls and lines across the center front.
I cringed when I saw this picture in The Financial Times. It is slight, but her shirt isn’t securely closed. I wish the photographer would have taken her picture from the opposite side.
Lots of ladies are adept at safety pinning, able to do it in a matter of seconds. Some women wear camisoles underneath their white button-downs so they feel covered in case of a pop. I have only owned one button-down shirt in my life, and I put a snap inbetween the buttons where there was a pull. I don’t wear that shirt.
I agree, buttons are evil, but there are some of us who have no choice but to wear button down shirts. So rather than poking holes into a shirt with a safety pin or using and re-using fashion tape, I had a seamstress sew in some snaps and it has solved my problem cheaply. I feel more secure in the knowledge that I’ve done everything I can to keep buttons from gaping and the girls are kept in place.
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A-C & Kari,
Good for you to have found solutions that work for you!
Feeling comfortable and confident is what’s important and you have worked your button-downs to give you that.
I agree. Even with my best button-downs – the ones that have buttons that are spaced a small distance apart from each other, and aren’t too tight in the bust – I wear a camisole underneath, and they still don’t lay flat as well as your tops with the hook-and-eye closures.
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I’m actually very fond of button-down shirts. They’re a real problem to fit though.
I’m petite, and I have found a few petite button down shirts that have a deaper V neck that sits smooth against the chest(allowing ease in the bust without gapping), buttons very close together, and lots of shirring to add more room in the bust. It’s a rare design, but really looks good on me when I find it.
Occasionally I’ll wear a button down with a little over 1 inch of ease in the bust. It’s a less fitted look, but can work if I have darts put in to make the waist more fitted. I’m also lucky in fit. I’ve found that the Worthington petite shirts tend to put a button right where the center point of my bustline is, and I’ll sometimes “luck out” with other petite brands putting a button on the right point for me.
I am a petite size 10 with a 40″ bust Whatsize should I order? If I have to have shoulders, sleeves and hem shortened I will have paid for the shirt at least twice.
Hi Lynette,
I would order MR. Carissa has a shorter hem than the other white shirts. When you receive it and you anticipate those necessary alterations simply return it, no problem. You may call us anytime with style/size questions: 214.727.9625.