Some things won't stay on a hanger without them. So it depends.

*hack, hack, hack*

I almost always cut them off......Unless it's a style that needs them to hang but that isn't typical.

I was the kind of kid who never cut Barbie's hair, so it is hard for me, but just recently I managed to snip-snip some that were making unwanted appearances from a blouse. I don't miss them. I inherited some non-slip hangers from a friend doing a big clear out, and they are really nice for wide-necked tops that can otherwise slip off normal hangers.

I cut them off, together with the price tags etc., once the new item gets into my home and I have decided to keep it.

I understand that the straps may be practical in stores, securing that the items will hang neatly on hangers though lots of people pass nearby and may touch them. But for private use, I just find them annoying. Besides, some items are actually best stored folded, not hanged.

If you cut them, don't the stubs itch and scratch?

I keep them. Helpful for hanging in the closet. If the item is hand-washable or not-for-the-dryer, the loops are useful to hang the item up for drying, especially skirts and pants.

Then again, I don't wear boatnecks or big scoopnecks, so I don't usually have the problem of the loops poking out.

CUT THEM OFF!!
Also any visible tags on sheer tops.

Hehe :), you and Angie, Lyn, are decisive!

See, as per fashionintern above, I feel leery. I believe the straps need to be cut very very close to the seam... I have made boo boos before of this... I get very nervous at cutting time...

They get cut together with tags. But I am never sure about sawed in pockets

My banker boss never cut his pockets. Said it preserved the line. I'm paranoid now about cutting those too... lol! I avoid it until the day I can no longer stand it and need a pocket, then do bad things like rip them open with a letter opener...

Lyn! Yes! the tag that shows through. I see it on others, I know others see it in my back. And just like Rach, I am afraid to ruin the article by cutting too much.

As of sewn pockets and back slits: it's a philosophy. I say you have to undo the loose stitching used to maintain the pieces in place (it's just one snip of the cisors and the rest comes undone). I mean, one must decide: either wear the garment or don't. If you leave the stitching, it's like the garment is wearing you. As if we weren't suppose to breathe and bulge and move. Keeping the stitching is like never really admitting to yourself that you are wearing the item, but instead having only provisionally borrowed the precious piece from the closet (Oops, excuse-me mister closet, while I slip on this straitskirt and straitjacket for a few hours and cease to exist during this time; I'll return it, promise!). So I certainly will cut the stitching.

With this in mind, excuse-me while I go immediately cut off all the straps on my clothes.

I never cut them. I always figured they had some arcane purpose that I wasn't smart enough to figure out, but would discover as soon as I cut them...

Yes, almost always. They annoy me if I don't.

I pretty much always keep them and very rarely have a problem with them popping out! If I did I guess I would cut them tho.

Extra Stuff 101--a traditionalist perspective:

Pocket basting and vent tacks are part of the construction process; the purpose is to keep two pieces of fabric from moving around as they are being sewn. Basting uses a very long, loose stitch and, often, a different colored thread to make it easier to remove after the stitching is completed. Tacking and basting can be left in to keep parts of the garment flat during shipping but is normally removed before a garment is worn

Labels can be on hanging tags attached to a garment, basted onto a part of the garment (the label on the sleeve of a suit jacket), printed directly on the inside of a garment, or sewn into a seam. Outwardly visible labels are normally removed since it might look rather strange to see someone walking around with pricing and care labels dangling from an armpit or sleeve. Long, dangling labels sewn inside a garment are often marked with a dotted line with a scissor symbol to indicate they, too, should be cut particularly if they contain retailing tracking devices. Small, decorative identification labels sewn into a garment at the back of the neck, or on the lining, are usually left since they don't show when the garment is being worn.

Hanging straps are put there for retail purposes as are pieces of tissue, plastic, pins, and cardboard used to protect certain parts of the garment during shipping and to facilitate display at the point of sale.

Just be warned that seeing someone walking around with these bits of manufacturing, shipping, and display pieces can look very odd to those of us who are older since we were taught to always remove these items. On the other hand, my grandmother would never have worn a T-shirt with a company logo written across the front, so times do change.

*Off to hack at my new jacket with my seam ripper and tiny scissors as per my grannie's and Angie's orders!*

After reading this, I went into my closet and cut them all off! Lol

I cut off all my hanging straps as they don't really serve a great purpose once the item has been purchased. If it's a dress or top, the items stay in place on the velvet-flocked hangers I use and there is no danger of the items falling to the floor. If it's a sweater, those are folded and placed on a shelf so there is no reason to hang those items. I also have extremely sensitive skin and I am far more comfortable if they are removed.

Those thin velvet-flocked hangers are the best. I use them for everything.

hahaha, I thought I was the only one puzzled by those straps! I cut them out of pieces I will keep in a drawer, but there are a couple of tops that need to be hung and the straps help keep the top in place on the hanger while preventing the hanger from poking those pointy marks at the shoulder (the straps help "hold" the top up).

I do, however, very often neglect to cut those narrow long tags that have a hard plastic thing inside (not sure what those are? Gaylene, I read your very enlightening explanation, but don't know what applies to these thingies). Then months or years later I will take off my pants and discover the pokey thing that's been making my hips itch.

(Just don't read the last sentence out of context!)

Interesting information, Gaylene. Thanks.

I usually cut the straps off as they seem to migrate to my armpits and tickle!

K.M., those "thingies" are RFID tags which are used for inventory control, logistics, and supply chain management. The devices were first used just on pallets, but have evolved to the point where they can now be incorporated Into individual items. Supposedly the devices are either de-activated at the point of sale, or removed by the customer, before the garment is worn.

The use of RFID tracking has skyrocketed in the past few years as companies find new uses for the devices and the devices become more sophisticated and durable. Institutions use RFID "buttons" for sorting laundry, retailers can use the devices for dressing room management, luxury goods manufacturers can weave electronic fibers into a logo so the item can be tracked if stolen, and some retailers are looking into offering children's clothing with "built-in" RFID tracking so parents can monitor their children's movements.

Right now, I try to remove the obvious devices from my clothing by snipping off the labels, removing "decorative" buttons at the hemline and in the lining, and checking through pockets for gizmos tucked inside. As the devices grow more sophisticated, I'm not sure how easy it will be to find and remove them from our clothing. I'm not particularly concerned, but neither am I enthusiastic, about being "trackable".

Gaylene, thanks for all that info - I hadn't realized that some of those anti-theft tags are now RFID. A friend from college worked on RFID on individual items for inventory control as his PhD thesis at MIT, long ago, and at the time it seemed so far-fetched. You've just planted the seeds of a vague art idea, actually.

(I cut hanger straps. Though I wish I'd kept them on one cardigan that always slides off its hanger!)

Yes. I hate them. They're itchy and lumpy.

I've always left them on, assuming that I might need them someday for some reason. But they usually slip out and annoy me. So thanks to this thread, I will be cutting them the next time they get in my way!

There are only a couple of pieces where I actually use them, one being a spaghetti-strap dress. I'm afraid that the spaghetti straps will get stretched out due to the weight of the dress, so I use the hanging loops to help hold up the weight.

It depends on the garment - usually I don't with skirts or trousers, since those usually don't show when being worn. I probably need to invest in better hangers but I currently keep the straps on wide necked tops that would otherwise slip off hangers without them.

Gaylene's comment has left me wondering about one other little thing; extra buttons on labels. You know, the ones they supply in case the current buttons fall off. I don't usually cut those off because they're usually somewhere unobtrusive, like on the hip. Are you supposed to, though? (Personally, I'd know I'd probably lose them if they weren't still attached to their coordinating top, haha!)

I leave extra buttons sewn on, because yes! I have bins and bins of those extra buttons and they're a complete turn off to look through! Lol.

I cut the straps, and the tags, and I sew deeper pockets into pants' fronts. [Shhh.... I also remove 'UNDER PENALTY OF LAW' pillow tags].

Omg, pillow tags... can we talk about those?

I can't stand them and cut them off.