Kelly Doust introduces readers to her wonderful world of reviving and customising vintage pieces, while bringing a modern and unique twist to wearing vintage clothes – Dita Von Teese
All Buttons Great & Small
Shiny red gnomes in the window display
This has to be my favourite button shop in the universe, although I’m itching to visit Paris’ La Droguerie later in the year to see if they can top my local for brilliant button finds. All Buttons Great & Small in Newtown’s King St always seems to stock just the button I’m looking for, and service is knowledgable and friendly. They also stock a wide range of vintage buttons, and do mail orders for non-Sydney-siders.
Here’s some pics from our Tuesday visit, foraging for glossy numbers in a shade of raspberry to adorn a vintage Burberry trench.
Perusing the blues
All manner of beautiful buttons
Olive the whirling dervish raids the buckles
Mellow yellows
Buttons maketh the outfit
Winter coat with vintage horn buttons
It’s incredible how different an item of clothing can look if you change its buttons. I am forever swapping fastenings on favourite coats and cardigans to update or transform them into something new. Buttons in bright, contrasting colours will draw attention and can make boring high street clothes look far more expensive than they really are. Get rid of chipped or tarnished metallic buttons and replace dull plastic with vintage pearl, bone, shell or horn as I’ve done here.
Some of my favourite places for new buttons: All Buttons Great & Small, Bird Textiles and Ici et La. For cheap-as-chips tins of miscellaneous buttons, try your local charity store or flea market. And don’t despair if you can’t find a full set: who says they have to match?
Found: cute buttons
Covered buttons from Bird Textiles