An accessory with an old history, braces, or suspenders, have a revival in man’s wardrobe. They highlight a real return to dandy typical elegance of early 20th century, to timeless gentleman’s style.
They emerged during the French Revolution and were used for a practical purpose: to hold up trousers without buttons.
Braces as we know them were first invented in 1822 by Albert Thurston and kings, prime ministers and notables immediately liked them, even though they always wore them completely hidden under their waistcoats.
After World War II, when waistcoat was used quite seldom, a lot of men began to prefer belts, but, mainly in England, braces remained a symbol of elegance and have been never completely abandoned.
Nowadays braces have lost their original essence, are changed in shape and material and became more modern. Solid colours, both sober and bright, with classic or eccentric patterns, braces can be worn under a tweed jacket or with a formal suit, they always create a particular effect.
They make your suit more personal and your image unusual. Moreover, braces make you look more slender and tall in opposition to belts that “cut” your shape horizontally interrupting the continuity of the suit. Also from a practical point of view, braces maintain trousers in the right position for the whole day. They convey a unique sense of style, let wide and tuck trouser drape better as well as formal and semi-formal suits, moreover they highlight the creases in the legs of the trousers.
If you wear braces, you will always have better to remove trousers loops in order to obtain a general consistency of the suit.
The most refined braces are made of silk, leather finishes, are buttoned to the trousers and are adjustable using metal loops, but there is a great number of models to adapt to the personal image you want to convey.
