Alison Hammond earned national treasure status ages ago and she regularly shows how well-deserved this is. The bubbly presenter never fails to bring a smile to people’s faces and a recent moment on This Morning was equal parts hilarious and informative.
It served as a good reminder to check your clothing for an often-missed detail and it caused a lot of confusion on the 9th January episode. During the broadcast, Alison drew attention to the "flower" she found attached to her beautiful polka dot dress.
Right now many people are focused on what to wear in the snow, but if you’re dreaming of spring like me, this Monsoon frock might just have caught your eye too and if you buy it, be prepared to discover a metal flower near the care label. Sitting on the This Morning sofa, Alison showed the inside of the skirt, declaring, "I just found a flower inside my dress. Look at this!"
Shop Alison's Dress
Alison's frock has a flattering empire line waist, a neat collar and puffed short sleeves. Embellished detailing down the front brings a statement feel - just remember to remove and save the spare button!
Now even more affordable in the sale, this polka dot shirt dress falls to midaxi length and has a tie waist belt for added shaping. In the winter you could wear this with tights and knee-high boots, with a long tailored coat over the top.
This polka dot dress is a little more on the casual side and would be great paired with a jumper or cardigan and your favourite boots. Unlike Alison's frock, this one has green dots on the navy background and these are echoed in the stripes on the cuffs.
Shop More Buttoned Designs
New-in at Mango, this knitted jacket is a lovely piece for winter going into spring. The chocolate-brown colour is very on-trend and the gold jewelled buttons add glamour without being too sparkly.
You can bag yourself a bargain with this LK Bennett dress - now under £80. It's got gold buttons going down the sleeves and to balance out this statement detail, the rest of the design is incredibly pared-back. Style with boots for a date night out.
This cosy cashmere cardigan from Mint Velvet has short puffed sleeves and delicate pearl-style buttons running down the front. The fitted silhouette and crew neckline means you could wear this as a top in its own right as well as layered over other pieces.
Initially, Consumer Editor Alice Beer suggested that this was a security tag, which co-host Dermot O’Leary found hilarious, quipping, "Have you been nicking them dresses again?"
Alison responded, "I was like, what is this hard thing? It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen", leading Alice to correct herself and tell her, "It’s your button darling! You’ve got them all down the front of you!"
Although Alison Hammond hadn’t realised the two things were connected, the front of her tea dress did indeed feature six identical flower buttons.
"Oh, so is it a spare? I didn’t realise. Ohhhh, it’s on the dress as well. I just thought it was a lovely button," the This Morning star replied, bursting into peals of laughter.
It can be easy to miss them, but spare buttons are something relatively common - especially if you’re buying an item of clothing with particularly statement buttons. I own a cardigan from & Other Stories with gold buttons shaped like bees going down the front and there’s no way I’d be able to find an exact match if I lost one, so I’ve safely stored the spare in case.
If you leave the spare button secured to your dresses, knitwear or shirts then they can often become detached as they’re not typically designed to stay in place indefinitely. I’d recommend checking for one as soon as you get a new piece and getting yourself a box to keep all your spares in going forwards, so you can always find them.
Alison Hammond’s hilarious antics live on-air serve as a great reminder to check for spare buttons and all that button talk also highlighted just how beautiful the ones on her Monsoon Kate dress are. This £150 frock is midi-length, with a neat collar and short puffed sleeves.
Polka dot is a print that can win over people who don't typically wear patterns, as it’s so classic and easy to style. The smaller the dots, the subtler the design, and a dark navy and white combination is hard to beat, even if it’s not in-keeping with spring/summer fashion colour trends for 2026.
Something like Alison’s dress can be worn with boots, tights and knitwear right now, and with loafers or ballet pumps as the weather warms up.
