These Inexpensive Adjustable Buttons Make Your Pants Fit Better

My body tends to adapt to fit the seasons, my waistline expanding as I hunker down for winter and shrinking as I lace up my hiking boots for summer. My favorite jeans, on the other hand, remain static—loose some months, tight during others. This can be inconvenient, to say the least. But I’ve finally found a solution that allows my clothes to fit properly all year long: adjustable buttons.

I discovered adjustable buttons the same way I discover most simple life hacks these days: from a viral TikTok. Given that the original video, which first made the rounds back in 2020, has over 5 million views, I’m obviously not the only person struggling to keep their jeans up. The buttons were so cheap that this seemed like a low-risk way to try to make my looser pants fit better.

And it worked for me! Instead of buying new clothes or spending money on custom tailoring, I rely on these inexpensive buttons throughout the year to cinch my waist or let it out a little. I asked a few coworkers to test out two styles of adjustable buttons with me. The consensus? These buttons are not the most elegant solution, but they do their job well. Here’s the breakdown.

How do adjustable buttons work?

The beauty of this alteration hack is that it’s incredibly simple. The buttons come in two pieces and function much like an enamel pin. There’s the button itself and a pin back to hold the button in place. Installation is easy: Pick the spot on your waistband where you want the button to be, push the pin through the fabric, and secure it in place by pressing or screwing on the back. To let your waistband out, simply place the button closer to the zipper. To tighten your waistband, move it farther away from the zipper. Then use the pants’ existing buttonhole to close.

Three Wirecutter staff members tested two types of adjustable pins on denim jeans, khakis, and stretchy ponte pants. They went about their days normally—working, running errands, grabbing dinner with friends. And then they took stock of how the buttons felt, looked, and held up throughout the day. The two types of buttons they tried have different closing mechanisms: those with a ball-locking clutch back and those with a screw-and-nut clasp. Ball-locking clutches, also referred to as jewelry clutches, employ internal locking mechanisms to keep pins secure. With screw-and-nut clasps, the pin’s prong is threaded so that it screws into the back of the button. There are advantages and disadvantages to both kinds of buttons—more on that below.

Who can benefit from adjustable buttons?

Professional alterations can be pricey, and they also require some extra time and effort on your part. When you don’t have the funds or the time to visit a tailor, or when you don’t want to permanently alter a pair of pants, having a stash of adjustable buttons at home can be handy. If you experience weight fluctuations, you’ll benefit from an adjustable solution that works for you throughout the year.

Some folks struggle with “waist gap” or “back gap”—a frustrating phenomenon that occurs when your pants fit snugly across the hips and butt but hang loose at the waist and lower back. Adjustable buttons are an easy way to custom-tailor those pants to your body.

These buttons are also great for someone who wants a quick fix with a bit of flair. There are dozens of styles on Amazon, and some come emblazoned with quirky patterns—including mouse ears for Disney fans.

Just keep in mind that your pants will likely overlap asymmetrically when you use an adjustable button to tighten your waistband. The tighter you’re trying to make your pants, the more noticeable the overlapping will be, and this can look unpolished.

What we liked and didn’t like about jewelry-clutch buttons

These enamel-pin-style buttons are supremely easy to install. It takes less than a minute: All you need to do is push the pin through the waistband fabric and attach the back. If you notice that your button placement isn’t quite right after you’ve zipped and buttoned your pants, it’s easy to remove and reposition the button. These buttons are also pretty cheap ($9 for an eight-pack at the time of writing).

However, these buttons can be a bit uncomfortable. The back of the pin protrudes from the waistband, and this causes the back to poke into your stomach when you sit. As editor and button tester Joshua Lyon said, it’s “not enough to hurt, but enough to be annoying and distracting.”

These buttons aren’t the most secure, either. Joshua found that the more he moved around, the looser the button became, until finally it would pop off. Senior SEO manager Sebastian Compagnucci struggled similarly, and his button actually flew across his veterinarian’s office while his pup looked on with pity. “I may just need to be more delicate with these buttons,” he said, adding, “but I also don’t want to crawl around on the floor looking for it in the meantime.”

What we liked and didn’t like about screw-in buttons

We found screw-in buttons to be far superior to their jewelry-clutch counterparts. Because the pin screws into the back of the button, it securely attaches to your waistband—and stays in place throughout the day and beyond. This type of button can even survive a wash-and-dry cycle. And screw-in buttons are more comfortable. They lie flush with your waistband, unlike the jewelry clutches, which can push into your belly. Also, your money goes even further with these buttons: At the time of writing, each $9 pack includes 12 buttons, along with a small screwdriver for installation and a plastic carrying case.

But screw-in buttons are also a lot harder to install. The first challenge is the small, plastic box the buttons arrive in—both Joshua and I had difficulty getting it open. “The box closes so tight that on two different occasions I had to push in and pull hard enough that the entire thing sprung out of my hands and the contents spilled all over the floor,” he said. The same thing happened to me, scattering buttons and backs across the room.

Once you’ve got the buttons in hand, they’re difficult to push through the fabric. “The screw isn’t sharp, and the threading starts so close to the tip that only the very top makes it through to the other side,” Joshua explained. Sebastian and senior engineering manager Polina Grinbaum also struggled to install their buttons, and the small flathead screwdriver included in the kit was of little help, considering the screws have Phillips heads. The other issue? “If you don’t line it up perfectly the first time,” Sebastian said, “you need to repeat this not-so-easy installation process.” These buttons, though extremely secure once in place, probably won’t work for anyone who struggles with finger dexterity.

The takeaway

Adjustable buttons are by no means a miracle solution to ill-fitting pants. But they are a good option for those seeking an affordable way to alter their clothes on the fly. These buttons are also versatile enough to work with a variety of materials (we tested them on denim, khaki, and stretchy viscose), making these cheap packs incredibly useful. Adjustable buttons aren’t going to appeal to everyone—some won’t like the way they look, and others might find them too finicky. For some folks, however, they will quickly become a wardrobe staple.

This article was edited by Annemarie Conte and Catherine Kast.