In the chaotic blur of our 24/7 society, where meals are microwaved in minutes and all information is a click away, it's comforting to know we still take time out to sew on a button.

For 50 years, Drusilla White's family has been selling buttons to the nation from a collection of shops in Yorkshire.

Today, three shops remain, at Ilkley, Harrogate and York.

Step into the York store in Coppergate and time seems to have stood still.

There are no wall-to-ceiling glass windows as favoured by modern retailers, no sparkling white tiled floors, no mirrored walls, no background music and no sullen shop assistants - just stacks of cardboard boxes full of buttons and friendly, knowledgeable staff.

"We have millions of buttons here," said Drusilla, now in her mid-70s, who took over the business after her father died in 1968. "We have 12,000 different designs - I don't think many people can beat that."

The variety is impressive and mesmerising. There are buttons made from crystal, shell, enamel, glass, metal, diamanté as well as a fine collection in mother of pearl. The styles are just as diverse; from decorative Art Deco to character buttons for children.

There are the latest fashion looks, too. New for 2007 are over-sized plastic buttons in a rainbow of colours, which build on the strong Sixties theme coming on to the high street from the catwalk.

Besides buttons, the store sells reels of ribbons, in a range of widths and colours, as well as trimmings, zips and everything for the home sewer.

Old-fashioned crafts such as sewing, knitting and crochet are enjoying a revival, believes Drusilla. "There are a lot of people who sew," she said. "The magazine Sewing World sells 22,000 copies a month, and there are other sewing magazines, too. Knitting is back, so everybody needs buttons again. Also buttons are back in fashion - you just have to go to M&S and buttons are everywhere."

Customers also come in to buy a new set of buttons to freshen up an outfit. "A big trade is from people who buy a suit at M&S but don't want people to know, so they come here and buy a new set of buttons," said Drusilla.

Upstairs, you can buy felt and netting and home tapestry and embroidery kits.

Even if you do not sew, a visit to Duttons in York is worthwhile. The building is medieval and in 1983, while carrying out renovation work, architects uncovered a treasure trove of historic gems including a 16th-century fireplace, a Georgian grate and layers of Victorian wallpaper.

More spectacularly, a false ceiling on the second floor was knocked through to reveal the beams of the original crown-post roof dating back to 1420, in the days of Henry V, complete with oak beams, struts, braces.

Look closely and you can see the original carpenters' marks for the alignment of the timbers, the handmade nails and wooden dowels for pinning the roof beams together.

While the interior at Duttons may not have moved with the times, but the business certainly has. Today, the company offers a mail order service and has its own website, giving Duttons a global reach.

Customers come from all over the world and the company has a hotline to Hollywood. Madonna wore buttons from Duttons in Evita, Nicolas Cage's uniform in Captain Corelli's Mandolin was held together by them too, as was Johnny Depp's swashbuckling gear in both Pirates Of The Caribbean movies.

Drusilla says the staff always go to see the movies, but spend most of the time trying to spot buttons rather than following the plot.

"But it's impossible to see the damn things in the end," she said. "People often ask us: Did you get a credit.' Well, of course we didn't."

The glittering giddiness of international movies has generated welcome publicity for Duttons, but is a world away from the day-to-day business of selling buttons to ordinary people.

Drusilla admits it's not a money spinner, but there is enough brass in buttons to keep three shops open and 24 people in jobs five decades on since the first store opened in December 1956.

"Our cheapest button is about 10p and our most expensive about ten pounds. So it's not a millionaire-class life, but it's fun and we enjoy it," she said. Several members of staff have been with the company for more than 20 years.

The company was the brainchild of her father, Abe Goodman, who ran a trimmings merchants in Leeds, selling tailoring accessories to the burgeoning rag trade in West Yorkshire.

Drusilla said: "My father always loved buttons and fancied having a button shop. A chance came up to open one in Harrogate, and my father liked the name of the shop: Duttons. He came home and said to us: How do you like the name Duttons For Buttons?'".

The rest, as they say, is history.

Duttons For Buttons, 32 Coppergate York; 7 Opera House, Oxford Street, Harrogate and 3 Church Street, Ilkley. www.duttonsforbuttons.co.uk