Friday, March 4, 2016

Braces and Suspenders Observations

Have you noticed more people wearing braces? I have. And it’s not just people in one demographic, but young and old, males and females. Here are some styles I observed recently:
  • middle-aged women attending a group birthday party in a restaurant wearing blue jeans and a casual, white shirt. Instead of a belt, she went with clip-on braces
  • older businessman wearing grey pants and a navy blazer. As he was walking down the sidewalk a gust of wind opened his blazer to reveal his braces
  • 20-year old wearing black suspenders with a white dress shirt and black jeans
  • teenage girl wearing a green, knee-length skirt with suspender straps
  • women wearing denim shorts with red suspenders and a plaid shirt
I couldn’t photograph these outfits, so I’ll share what braces I’ve been wearing. This is a pair of Y-back stripped braces with brown leather tabs. The straps have a grey edge trim, with light blue and thin stripes of red, white, navy, and grey.



What braces or suspenders have you been wearing recently?

16 comments:

  1. I did see an older gentlemen was wearing a pair of very bright (need sunglasses) rainbow ones this morning. But that's the first time I've seen anyone except me wearing suspenders in quite a while.

    I'm a daily suspender wearer and cycle through about a dozen pair that I use regularly. Of those maybe 8 of them are solid colored clip-on types, and 4 are striped. I also have some dress type (aka expensive) button on braces for suits that I wear as little as I can possibly get away with, (the suits that is).

    I've got a couple of pair of jeans that I wear some solid colored (tan and blue) button on more casual (aka much cheaper) braces with.

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    1. @TheGuyInSuspenders: Thanks for sharing your suspenders and braces collection! They are so much more comfortable than a belt. Enjoy wearing them!

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    2. I don't think I've actually worn a belt since I was like 6 so I'm not really sure they are more comfortable, but your welcome.

      A bit of a funny story for you. Very occasionally I don't wear suspenders, yesterday was one of those days; It's been pretty hot here and the jeans I had on were fine without them.

      Not counting the wife and kids I got at least a dozen comments about not wearing them. People at work, the place I go to lunch. The subway ride to work amazed me the most. I've taken the subway to work for the past 5 yrs and no one ever talks, no one makes eye contact, but several "no suspenders today" from people I've never spoken to; it was nuts, you'd think I forgot to put pants on.

      I think suspenders need a warning label put on them. "If used regularly consult your doctor before discontinuing use".

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  2. Odd question that’s somewhat on the topic. I was moving some boxes in the garage a couple of nights ago and in one of them was my high school yearbook. Inside the year book were my class pictures from Kindergarten through 12th grade. I was flipping through those pictures and noticed something suspender related that was interesting.
    Kindergarten: 1958, 20 boys, 20 white shirts, 20 dark ties, 18 with suspenders on.
    1st grade, 1959 20 boys standing in two rows in front, girls in two rows in the back. 20 white shirts, 20 dark ties, 14 wearing suspenders.

    2nd grade, 1960 22 boys in front, white shirts, dark ties, 9 wearing suspenders.

    3rd grade 1961 22 boys white shirt, ties, 5 with suspenders.

    4th grade 1962, 21 boys, white shirt/tie, 2 suspender wearers.

    5th grade 1963 19 boys white shirt/tie 1 with suspenders.

    Question: I got curious so I looked at some class pictures on pinterest etc. from that era and saw the same sort of reduction. Why did boys in that era stop wearing suspenders as they grow older?

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    Replies
    1. @Anonymous: thanks for the observations from school yearbook photos. The '60s did see reduction of suspender-wearers. I think children were moving away from what their parents had worn, and reliable, dependable suspenders got dropped.

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  3. I love reading your guides like this. Get your suspenders from here: https://trendsuspenders.com

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  4. I have noticed that in Australia braces or as they are now called suspenders are being worn alot more than they use to. We are currently seeing in the stores for women the trend of very wide leg pants with suspenders. I love this look and am happy to see so many women wearing them. I have always worn braces and it's good to see the style that I have worn for a long time now popular. The men have also started wearing them alot mote than normal and it's nice to see.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Rachael I live in Australia also. My wife has worn braces for a very long time but is very pleased to see them in style now

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    2. What part of Australia do you live. I live in South Australia

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  5. I am happy to see more people wearing braces/suspenders. It's good to see more women having the conference to try something so bold by wearing a pair of braces. You see it on YouTube people doing ootd videos showing their style and showing off their braces. I'm a 32 year old woman that has worn braces all my life. It started off when I was young and my mum use to dress me in braces all the time. Then my school years the uniform involved a skirt with bracer straps then my first job when I was 18 the uniform included braces and tie in the restaurant I worked in then I started working in offices where a suit had to be worn daily so I found it only natural to wear braces. So to sum it up I love braces and will always be wearing them and I'm glad to see others also wearing them

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    Replies
    1. Agreed, there's a lot more people posting online that they are wearing braces. Thanks for sharing that you've been wearing braces all your life - you must love them! Enjoy wearing them

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  6. Women actually do look better in braces then men do, but you don't see lots of women in the U.S. wearing them, maybe in Europe...

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  7. Now that ties have become virtually obsolete, I wonder whether this could be the reason for more guys are seen wearing and showing their braces. A plain shirt (dress or tee) looks very boring without some adornment, and braces now have such a great range of colours and patterns that they certainly add a splash of interest. I have been more comfortable exposing mine in the past couple of years, and have received nothing but favourable comments. And guys, please note I am only 22, so give braces a try. You'll love them as much as I do, and so will the girls!

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  8. I have always loved the look of braces and suspenders and had worn them every now and then. Recently I have been seeing a lot of people especially women wearing them more often so I just assumed that they were coming back to fashion. Then in a magazine I seen a picture of Blake Lively in a pair and she looked amazing and I said to myself I want to look like that. She had a short sleeve white shirt with what looked to have ruffles down the front with a pair of ultra wide leg pants in black also and a pair of skinny black clip on suspenders. It was so classy. So I decided to copy that outfit. I already had several different pairs of extremely wide leg pants and had plenty of business shirts in a different styles so all I needed was the suspenders. I already had a couple of pairs but they weren't the style I wanted so I went to the suspender store and sorted through their hundreds of different ones and finally walked away with 4 pairs. They were all button on braces which I absolutely love. A plain black elastic pair, a satin black pair, a white elastic pair and also a tan/ light brown pair. Since my purchase I have worn every pair several times with matching coloured pants. I love wearing them and receive great feedback constantly. I might not look like Blake Lively but I feel a million dollars wear an exact outfit like hers. P.s. my braces look heaps better than hers.

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