Suspenders, Braces, and Stuff

Russell Street

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I'll lead with this bizarre Ask Andy post where a man, or his wife, finds suspenders in a thrift store and gets them, then is puzzled, asks the internet what is up, and is told by a cobbler that they are "one strap suspenders" which is apparently a real thing wherein the friggin strap crosses over your shoulder to the waist on the opposite side and makes you look like you are wearing a gunbelt of some sort.

http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?190806-Emporio-Armani-Suspenders

Anyway, I never much got into suspenders. I love the idea, as cinching crap around your waist is not the brightest idea, but it's one of those plunges not yet taken. It does not help that braces/suspenders are a fairly rare item relegated to anachronists, collectors, eccentrics, luxury nuts and the like so they are not inexpensive unless they are cheap.

First, clips are wrong. Buttons, period. I get this much.

I'm suspicious of anything with elastic content, but I may be wrong. I don't really care too much about appearance as I'm of the old school notion that they should not be seen. Do avoid being Ed Norton or Gordon Gekko.

The long-gone mimo made reference to the button tabs, presumably called kips, being more comfortable if woven and not leather. Makes sense. Others have said that white leather is somehow preferred over black or brown?
 
They are actually pretty common among the Brits. I don't have a hell of a lot to add other than I have some, and they came from Thurston.

I don't see any advantage to white leather over black leather. You can get either. Just get what you like.
 
braces.

Suspenders are something women used to wear and drag queens still do.
 
Does the actual main fabric matter? People get gaga over boxcloth, but it looks downright abrasive. I imagine anything by the good brands would be decently durable...
 
Does the actual main fabric matter? People get gaga over boxcloth, but it looks downright abrasive. I imagine anything by the good brands would be decently durable...

I prefer barathea myself. Boxcloth reminds me of the felt of a pool table. Some of the love is probably due to iGent groupthink.
 
I am surprised that there is so much curiosity about the single suspender. At one time they were quite common, especially in the American South. At one time referring to someone as a "one-gallus man" or "one-gallus boy" was synonymous with "redneck" or "peckerwood" today. I think the single suspender was fairly common in comic depictions of hillbillies in past decades.
 
I am surprised that there is so much curiosity about the single suspender. At one time they were quite common, especially in the American South. At one time referring to someone as a "one-gallus man" or "one-gallus boy" was synonymous with "redneck" or "peckerwood" today. I think the single suspender was fairly common in comic depictions of hillbillies in past decades.

I think people probably haven't made the leap from the cartoon to the real thing, though there are a lot of black and white photos showing over characterized cast hillbillies.
 
I am surprised that there is so much curiosity about the single suspender. At one time they were quite common, especially in the American South. At one time referring to someone as a "one-gallus man" or "one-gallus boy" was synonymous with "redneck" or "peckerwood" today. I think the single suspender was fairly common in comic depictions of hillbillies in past decades.
So was the point merely that the cruder single strap was simpler/cheaper to make?
 
I prefer barathea myself. Boxcloth reminds me of the felt of a pool table. Some of the love is probably due to iGent groupthink.
Me too. I'm actually halfway through developing a range of suspenders made by Albert Thurston and what put me off the boxcloth is the way they are made to hang down on shorter blokes, like the below -

AT1.gif


So in the end I did 80% barathea and some moire for formal wear. Looking forward to them getting here in about 6 weeks.
 
Me too. I'm actually halfway through developing a range of suspenders made by Albert Thurston and what put me off the boxcloth is the way they are made to hang down on shorter blokes, like the below -

View attachment 3121

So in the end I did 80% barathea and some moire for formal wear. Looking forward to them getting here in about 6 weeks.

That little tab that hangs on the boxcloth is odd to me as well.
 
For the most part yes, but they are very comfortable. I prefer nothing but side adjusters, but that isn't always a possibility. If I have to choose between braces and belt for dress trousers, I chooose braces. I'm wearing them now and I do have a woman I'm not allergic to :laugh1:

Some of the best dressed men in my workplace wear braces and they're far from iGents.
Yes but it was before those degenerates already corrupted another classic garment for they pink fetishes. Nowadays beards, bow ties, vest, chain pocket watches and suspenders are synnonimous of histrionic degenerate pink. Curious the arstocrat of Madrid wears all them at once.
 
I am taking this mention of pink as an excuse to arise the question of braces by The Cordial Churchman. I think I like these more in theory than in practice.
Did we already mention in this thread that suspenders really should not be seen? Or at least displayed, while in public?
 
I'm suspicious of anything with elastic content, but I may be wrong.
I take that back, the rear should be stretchy right? What about the rest?
Mainly my fear is them stretching out or distorting. I am completely unable to find out the actual fiber content of most barathea. Some French Etsy shop has stuff with appeal, but the content is 81% polyester, 19% elastodiene. Is this something that I should avoid?
 
The barathea won't be stretchy, but the last section on the back (the final bit after the two barathea arms have met) can be. However, it sould be stiff, substantial elastic, not thin stretchy elastic like those clip-on braces you see on hipsters and other unmen.

Regarding boxcloth, the idea - if you don't like those bits hanging down like the flaps of a clapped out whore - is to trim them to fit. Obviously you need to leave a bit of room for adjustment when wearing different pairs of trousers, but there's no need to go around with things dangling.

I've got mostly barathea, with one boxcloth and a couple of moire pairs for black tie.
 
When you first put on the trousers... it's a pain in the ass buttoning the braces onto them. Additionally I just like the stretchiness of the clip on braces compared to the Thurstons/Trafalgars... I think this is just one of those things where personal preference overrides a need for a group think answer... or I could just be a philistine.
Apparently, as Journeyman states, you attach the braces before donning the trousers, the way some people install cufflinks on the unworn shirt. I'd never thought of this, having still not gotten around to the whole thing.
As my post of about a weak ago shows, you can absolutely get elasticized button braces.
 
I'm about to get around to this, and I'll have to sew on some buttons. I've heard that the olde fashioned way is to have buttons on the outside of the waistband, and this seems oddly convenient. Is there a reason not to?
 
I'm about to get around to this, and I'll have to sew on some buttons. I've heard that the olde fashioned way is to have buttons on the outside of the waistband, and this seems oddly convenient. Is there a reason not to?


Women will not feel compelled to slip their fingers inside your waistband wondering what your braces are attached to.
 
My Polo suits are all fitted for braces, so I generally wear them when I wear these suits. I'd like to buy one white pair with white ends as my one universal pair since it bothers me to have brown leather ends on my braces if I am wearing black shoes (but white wouldn't trouble me at all). And that one pair would take care of black tie as well.
 

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