Often the worst wardrobe mishaps—a missing button or broken bra strap—happen as you are running from meeting to meeting or chained to your desk with no sewing kit in sight. However, you can avoid a Janet Jackson-esque wardrobe malfunction and keep your chic office outfits looking tailored by using common office supplies. Here’s how:

1. Wardrobe Malfunction: Missing Button

Quick Fix: Double-Sided Tape

Let tape temporarily do the work of a button by taping the sides of your shirt together where the missing button reveals too much. Bonus: Unlike using the stapler to close your shirt, tape won’t permanently damage your cute blouses! You can also close the peek-a-boo space between buttons in the same way to prevent your bra or skin from showing.

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2. Wardrobe Malfunction: Scuffed Shoes

Quick Fix: Sharpie

Touch up unsightly nicks and scuffs in your favorite pumps or hottest boots by coloring in the marks with a Sharpie of a similar color.

3. Wardrobe Malfunction: Broken Bra Strap

Quick Fix: Paper Clips or Key Ring

If your bra strap has snapped, simply tie the strap onto one end of a paperclip and hook the other end onto the metal loop at the base of the bra. You can do a similar MacGyver-like trick using a key ring.

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Whitney Houston just can’t seem to catch a break these days.

First, her voice repeatedly cracked at her first comeback performance in New York last month (she blamed Oprah), and this weekend she made an appearance on the British reality television show ‘X Factor’ Saturday night was marked by a wardrobe malfunction.

Around 2:20 the strap on the back of Whitney’s silver dress breaks. She notices around 2:30, looks momentarily disconcerted and continues her performance of ‘Million Dollar Bill’ unfazed. “I sang myself out of my clothes,” she tells host Dermot O’Leary afterward.

Watch the video:

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Whitney to hit the road