Tips for renovating buttons of a dress

[shadesoftime]

Hi everyone!

I wanted to ask you about some tips for listing an item with flaws.

Even though I don't know how wearable this item is, I somehow love it, for I find it so a characteristic. When I found it, I did not know yet about the Victorian revival of the 70s, and was seeing this dress as an odd mixture of hippie and Victorian styles.



Although in overall very good condition, this dress as some flaws regarding the buttons. They were covered in a pearl colored paint, which partially peeled off. This dress also appears to be home sewn, which is also reflected by the fact that the front buttons are not well aligned.

I was just curious to know what you would do in such a case:
- somehow paint the buttons? I have no clue however on what type of paint should be used for such a renovation, and I would first have to remove all the remaining paint.
- remove the buttons? Of course, this would make the dress lose some of its charm and details.
- list the dress as such, only pointing out the issue, and suggesting ways to solve it? But I guess that not many people are willing to buy an item on which work needs to be done.

Any insights, from sellers as well as buyers, will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

Anaïs

 

[carla rey]

Hi! Great pattern on that dress!
I would replace the buttons. Pearl headed buttons like that can be found very inexpensively in your local sewing store or vintage replacements can be found online. Some of our members may even have some!

Good luck!

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

The lustre on pearl style buttons is best not washed, as it can come off, so my guess is that someone washed this dress without removing the buttons, probably lots of times. If you want to resell, I would sell as it is and leave the decision to the buyer. The print is so busy, this slight imperfection is not very noticeable.

 

[shadesoftime]

Thank you very much Carla! It is indeed a very sensible option which I was not really considering.

Nicole, you are right, I have to acknowledge that if you do not focus on the buttons, it is not really noticeable, but I could understand that someone would like to have a very neat dress. Of course, I also have to acknowledge that your solution also appeals to me as being the least time-consuming !

I will weight the pros and cons a bit more, but this helped .

Thank you once more!

 

[catwalkcreative]

It's fine to replace them but I'd prefer to leave them as is. Just as long as you mention that the coating has washed away over the years. It adds to the authenticity of the dress and shows it was clearly loved and worn.

 

[Pinkcoke]

Nail varnish is a good paint for things that need to be washed - it works well on the tag of an invisible zipper if you can't get one to match. Of course on buttons like these it wouldn't be smooth but it would give you the pearly effect back. I'd save it for buttons you can't replace however, this sort are still readily available.