Buttoning Up
I'm what they call "hard" on my clothes. I'm an accidental stainer, ripper, breaker, and I knock off buttons as if I'm leaving behind a Hansel and Gretel bread-crumb trail. Because I buy a lot of vintage clothes, these buttons can be awfully hard to track down, but without them, the pieces no longer look cute and old, they just look old. There are so many thousands of button options on eBay that you'll need to narrow your search down by texture, size, and color. For example, I recently found these 5/8-inch brown woven-leather buttons, which are almost identical to the ones I lost on a vintage fisherman's cardigan. Another bonus to buying new buttons on eBay is the right set can upgrade something you already own (I'm right now desperate to add these red matte ones to my pinstriped button-down). The best part is, sewing on buttons requires the most minimal of thread skills, or—even better—your dry cleaner will do it for really cheap.
Jennifer, you can easily get those '70s woven leather buttons at any fabric store!