Who can wear braces?

Anyone! Young, old, tall, short, male or female, fat or slim, everyone should wear braces. Recall the previous discussion about placing the pants at the waist rather than on the hips. This allows the pants to smoothly pass over the stomach bulge (however small) that occurs (refer to previous blog).

Additionally, people that don’t have hips are almost required to wear braces. They cannot wear belts, as their pants will constantly slip down and eventually end up at their ankles. As a result, they have turned to braces.

For ladies, wearing braces can be cumbersome due to their … assets. This is where button placement is key (refer to previous blog). The shoulder straps should come over the shoulders and curve softly around the outer sides of the breasts, not on top. Larger chested ladies should have wider straps and smaller chested ladies should have thinner straps.

The buttons are too close to
the middle seam

The buttons are to far apart
from the middle seam

Tyra Banks weighs in on the topic on Access Hollywood Live. She debated where to put the straps and finally decided to rest them on top. I disagree that they should be on top. If you notice, the left strap shifts to the side by the end of the video clip showing that they should be positioned to the side. Tyra has worn suspenders before:

As well as on her own show in December 2010.

Ladies wishing to wear braces should position the buttons as close to the main pleat as possible, so that the pants or skirt are adequately supported. Too far to the side seam and the pants will droop in the middle. Too close to the middle seam and it will be uncomfortable (refer to previous photo). The braces illustrated by Vixen Vintage below are worn correctly and look stunning.

Women have been adopting menswear for a number of years, and I think it can be very fashionable. In 2010, Lena Hoschek has a fabulous Fall/Winter 2010 line hits it right on the button – this is how braces are meant to be worn by women.

Remember that pants to be worn with braces should always be worn a little larger at the waist so that they are actually "suspended" from the shoulders. But avoid going too far, as shown here:

This man needs to wear braces to support his pants. He does look fashionable for his time.

As Alan Flusser points out, “Perhaps the only person who might encounter some difficulty wearing suspenders is someone with sharply sloped shoulders. In such a case, the back fork of the suspenders can be raised to compensate. This may be accomplished simply by using the excess material from the hem of the trousers to make tabs that can be sewn to the back, thereby effectively raising the fork higher on the back, which in turn will keep the suspenders from sliding.”

The brace junction is higher to compensate
for this ladies sloped shoulders

Braces are also used for these shorts/skirt to hold them up:

Discussion time:

• What about you?
• Are you wearing braces?

Note: all photos are used solely for non-commercial use and to illustrate braces in fashion. No plagiarism is intended.