Button question

[Amorette Bertilson]

I looked on Ebay for four-hole shell buttons, and I found these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/72pcs-20L-1-2-WHITE-REAL-PEARL-SHELL-BUTTON-RIM-/170408077282?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ad1ce7e2

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-ANTIQUE-USED-BUTTON-LOT-300-PEARL-SHELL-BUTTONS-/230573325790?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35af3dbdde

http://cgi.ebay.com/300-Vintage-Mother-of-Pearl-BUTTON-Lot-Doll-MOP-Shell-/200563747452?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb287ea7c

http://cgi.ebay.com/350-Vintage-Mother-Pearl-Buttons-Antique-Shell-J35-/260719187698?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb41316f2

I'm most tempted by the first one and the last one- they look more uniform (for the first) and the last more... somehow better. But are they at all not period correct? I need them desperately... I almost have my chemise done and my drawers are done except for buttons.

[Elizabeth]

The very most bog-common button I've seen for undergarments are a 4-hole white china button, rather than shell or other materials that will tend to lose integrity far more quickly given period washing methods.

However, those can be tough to find, expensive, and I don't like putting them through modern machines and dryers (personal preference.)

If you cannot get white china 4-hole buttons, I'd go with the standardized 1/2" white shell shirt buttons from the first auction, I think. The others, you'll be sorting down to get a few workable buttons.