Children Wearing Suspenders

Children have a natural need to wear suspenders – their hips have not fully developed and so wearing anything at the waist will simply cause the pants to fall to their feet. This is exactly where suspenders are needed. All children can and should wear suspenders to hold up their pants. They are comfortable and stylish. Furthermore, as the child grows, the suspenders can be adjusted to accommodate the growth, and the child can enjoy learning and playing all day without the nuisance of constantly pulling up their pants. As long as children have been wearing pants, they have been wearing braces.







Some modern outfits:

And braces for formal occasions:

At a younger age, Prince William wore braces:

Braces are not only for boys, girls also look sharp in them with a skirt:

Button-on braces or clip-on suspenders?
Should a child wear button-on braces or clip-on suspenders? You may think that buttons will pop-off faster than suspenders, given the high level of movement and activity that children do  during the day. However, clips are only effective in gripping pant material and cannot accurately hold onto the pants over time - they will eventually snap off. Buttons, on the other hand, will remain in tack even when there is significant movement and activity. Furthermore, even with 1 button popped off, the pants will still stay up, as the braces have 6 connection points compared to only 4 with suspenders (refer to my previous posting on connection points). 

For example, refer to the photo below. The boy's side brace buttons have both popped-off, but his pants remain up and comfortable - he simply needs to get new buttons sewn on the sides.

Buttons are more secure than clips, and for this reason children should wear button-on braces.  Historically, when braces were predominantly worn in society during the first quarter of the 20th century, children wore braces:

As the century progressed clip-on suspenders became more common and boys started wearing them to keep their pants up.

Nevertheless, children should wear braces to hold up their pants. Children's pants rarely come with buttons, so unless you are prepared to sew buttons on to their pants (which is not that difficult), they are relegated to wearing clip-on suspenders.

What to look for when selecting children braces
The first thing to remember is that children are smaller in size than adults. As such, the braces should have smaller straps to ensure the braces fit comfortably on the child. This means that the straps are narrow, the brace loops not too large at the front of the chest, and the straps are not too long to fit comfortably.This photo displays a proper fit:

Secondly, the straps should be adjustable in both the front and back, to allow for adjustments when the child grows, as well as adjust the back junction, if possible. This is primarily for Y-back suspenders. The back strap should adjust to fit the child. 

Thirdly, if you are going to use clip-on suspenders, I highly recommend X-back style. This provides 2 connection points at the rear to hold up the pants - right where the child needs it the most as they will be bending over, stretching and reaching, which will put a lot of strain on 1 clip at the back. The rear junction should be adjustable to accommodate the child's growth.

Get X-back suspenders for children

In summary, if you have children, give them some relief from constantly pulling up their pants and get them a pair of braces. They will thank you for the comfort!

Discussion:

• If you have children, do they wear suspenders or braces?
• Did you wear braces or suspenders as a child? What did you wear clips or buttons?
• Did you enjoy wearing braces or suspenders as a child?

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

What Braces does Backtobraces Wear?

Readers have requested I post photos showing evidence that I wear braces. I am all too happy to do so! It goes without saying that if I’m giving advice on wearing braces, I should also wear braces. So this post is all about me wearing braces and suspenders.

I was introduced to suspenders at a young age. My parents bought my first suit - a solid navy suit with matching jacket and pants. The pants were high-waisted, with no waistband or belt loops. Instead, the pant fabric came straight to the top of the waistline. When I became an adult I learned that this style is called "Hollywood style" - and I love it!

 

Without a belt, the pants were designed (and needed) to be held up with suspenders. This set came with stripped clip-on suspenders. Suspenders were very common in those days, worn by boys and men, but also ladies wore suspenders with skirts. My suspenders clipped to the waistband and had small time-clocks printed on the clips. Someone must have thought it comical to suspend time! The suspender width was narrow for the body frame of a boy. The straps crossed at the back (X-back style), giving two support anchors for a busy boy like me. The colors of the straps were navy and white stripes with red and blue stripes in the middle, to coordinate with the solid navy pants and jacket.

 

I can still remember how comfortable this outfit was to wear. The suspenders held my pants at my waist all day long and kept my pants from slipping down - unlike what belts did. I wanted to wear suspenders all the time, and I did - to church, to weddings, and other special events. Sometimes I wore the pants with the jacket - usually during the cooler winter months. In the warmer summer months, I just wore the pants with a dress shirt. I remember adults commenting that I looked dapper and sharp in my suspenders! That made me happy and want to wear them more.

Here’s a photo of my high-waisted pants with suspenders during an Easter event:

 

I don't remember any of my playmates pulling or snapping my suspenders. That's likely because we were all wore suspenders, and knew we would get it back in return.

 

Eventually, due to the excessive wear, the rear clips slowly started losing their strength and began slipping off the waistband. I would bend over and a rear clip would snap off. I eventually figured out that if I secured the clips at the pleats on the waistline (where there was extra fabric), it would minimize the chances of the clips coming off.

 

There's a photo of me wearing a white dress shirt and a green cardigan. I must have just put the cardigan on, as the neckline is far away from my actual neck. The space between my cardigan and neck show that I'm wearing these navy, red, and white stripped suspenders underneath the cardigan.

 

Around this time I also had a pair of light blue dress pants with a matching pair of solid, Y-back, clip-on suspenders. These pants were also Hollywood style waist and I always wore the pants with just the suspenders, especially in the spring and summer time. I would be running around playing tag or some other game, and my pants would be kept high and looking polished.

 

Growing up, I remember seeing pictures of suspenders with button attachments with two leather tabs. I dreamed of getting a pair of those "fancy" suspenders. They looked so neat and would not snap off! Clips may be easy to attach and convenient for energetic boys, but I really wanted a pair of button-on suspenders to support my pants. I realized at a young age that clip-on suspenders are the cheap version of suspenders.

 

After wearing suspenders for most of my preteen years, I didn’t wear them again until university. Styles changed and I became more conscientious of wearing suspenders as a teenager.

 

But when I got to university I wore suits again for professional events and job interviews. Wearing a belt was uncomfortable for me, so I researched accessories to add that would help give me some personality and set me apart from others. I stumbled upon vintage photos and saw pictures of men wearing suits. I quickly came across suspenders with buttons and remembered how much I enjoyed suspenders as a child. But this time, I was determined to wear fancy, button-on suspenders.

 

I convinced my mom to sew buttons into the waistline of my suit pants. While it was an off the rack suit, the pants were higher waisted and could use suspenders to keep them at my waist. I bought a fine pair of button-on braces on eBay - a black and white satin pair of braces by Trafalgar. They were in excellent condition, showing no sign of age. They would go well with my black suit.

 

I attached the braces to the buttons and then put on the pants, pulled up the straps to my shoulders. I instantly remembered the memories of wearing suspenders as a boy. After a few times wearing the braces, I decided that braces would be my look and I've been wearing braces ever since.

I started with the traditional black suit and black braces, but I've since expanded and have quite a collection of braces in different colors - blues, browns, reds, burgundy, grey, and many different stripped colors. I generally prefer vintage braces – older, unique and rare braces that are still in great shape. These are unavailable at department stores, so I hunt for them in vintage shops and second-hand thrift stores. For anyone wanting to start wearing braces, I’d recommend looking at second-hand stores for a pair under $20 first before paying $100-200 for a pair of high-end, quality braces.

I love to wear braces, as compared to clip-on suspenders, as I find the placement of buttons is superior to clips. Braces fully support the pants and adjust with your body movement. Additionally, I find them more classy and traditional than suspenders that trend-seekers can snap-on and snap-off at will. The feeling of snapping on a pair of braces is priceless, as it gives you a peace of mind that your pants will stay in place and be comfortable all day.

The first few years of wearing suspenders, I was hesitant to show them off in public. But the more I wore them, the more confident I became. On one occasion, I was volunteering as a waiter for a gala dinner for less fortunate families. We were instructed to wear a white dress shirt and dark dress pants. All the other men wore pants with a belt. I came wearing black pants with suspenders and received many compliments.

 

I currently have about 20 button-on braces and 6 clip-on suspenders, and looking to increase. I am very selective and specific in the braces and suspenders that I buy. I'm currently looking for a historic pair of braces that are not made anymore. They were called President Suspenders and had a "give-and-take" feature in the back to accommodate every body movement.
 

President Suspenders were not just for men, they also made a line for women:

I have yet to see these braces being worn in person. Let me know if you have a pair and have photos!


In the meantime, I will wear braces. My favorite outfit is black braces with black dress pants on a white dress shirt. Some frequent outfits I wear are a dark suit with black or navy braces and a tie, and a grey suit with light blue suspenders. Here’s a photo with my one and only:

I did a photo shoot in the vintage part of town last year, and I wore simple black, Y-backed braces, over a white dress shirt, with a stripped tie and fedora:

A more recent outfit I wore was a white dress shirt with a polka-dotted bow-tie and black X-back braces. I received many complements and will do it again.

As I mentioned, I wear braces with business-wear and formal wear. I sometimes wear braces with casual wear, if the braces are casual and the pants fitted with buttons. I generally wear suspenders with jeans and a t-shirt and have a number of suspenders, including a solid navy pair, and stripped pair of light brown and green. 

Discussion:
I encourage you to join in by posting your photos online – upload them to an online site like flickr or photobucket and then provide the link in the comments below - please keep the photos appropriate.
Lets share ideas and spread the message that its stylish to wear braces and more comfortable than a belt!

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