It might be more resource efficient to add buttons, belts and loops, seams, pockets, etc. to the texture, and use a displacement map to give them their 3D quality. Especially so if you want to make dynamic clothing. I tried to drop some jeans to the floor in the cloth room to add a messy pile of cloths to a scene and the belt loops and buttons were left suspended in the air.

Is that what you were suggesting? Displacement maps are way under used, and normal maps are barely touched except by a few intrepid souls.

lmk

Probably edited for spelling, grammer, punctuation, or typos.