Extra buttonholes in each side of shirt

January 19, 2014 10:27 PM

I recently bought a women's silk button-down blouse from Uniqlo. I was looking at it closely today, and noticed that this blouse has two extra buttonholes on each side, near the hem of the shirt. What are they for?

The buttonholes are placed directly on top of the side seams, near where the red arrows are pointing in this photo. It's placed on top of an extra bit of fabric that was cut in the shape of an arrow over the side seam.

Does anyone know what these buttonholes are for? Thanks in advance.

I've speculated that maybe they are there so that you can button your shirt to the inside of your pants, and prevent your shirt from getting untucked. If this is the case, does anyone know of pants which are sold with buttons for this feature? If this is for structural strength in the side seam, does anyone know if its specific to the fabric choice for this design? I do some sewing of my own, and would love to know if this is something I should incorporate into future patterns.

posted by tinymegalo to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (3 answers total)

Best answer: If I'm looking at the right product on their site, I think there are supposed to be buttons there (perhaps they fell off). The buttons may be partly decorative and partly so you can wear it cross-over style.
posted by paperback version at 11:23 PM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have a shirt like that, tho not from Uniqlo. paperback version has the right idea. There should be a single button on the buttonhole side in the front of your blouse at the very bottom that you cross over to the buttonhole on the side seam. For the other side, you just use the last button at the bottom of your blouse and cross that over.
posted by misozaki at 12:46 AM on January 20, 2014

Response by poster: Awesome! Yes, there is an extra button near the hem of the button placket which I had assumed was just an extra for if you lost a button, but definitely works to make the look in that models photo. This is totally a feature I would use, and expands where I can wear this shirt to. It's almost like I got a free new shirt thanks to metafilter!
posted by tinymegalo at 9:52 AM on January 20, 2014 [1 favorite]