One night to go back in time to the 1940s

A number of years ago I went to a holiday Christmas party as part of my professional association. The theme was 1940s and the association encouraged people to wear clothes from that decade. People had to pay a nominal fee to go, so only those interested in the social gathering attended. It was nice to see that everyone came dressed up in vintage styles. Ladies wore dresses with puffed shoulders, and A-line skirts with blouses in floral prints, earth tone colors, and stripes. Men wore suits in tweed, vests, hats, and some even with high-waisted pants. While everyone was encouraged to dress up, it was not mandated, but most people did so.

I wore an earth-brown suit with high waisted pants, a white dress shirt and a vintage, wide tie. I wore a vintage pair of stripped, inverse-U tabs, Y-back braces to hold up my pants, with the colors on the stripes coordinating with the colors on my tie. My wife wore a vintage high-waisted skirt with a blouse.

When we arrived, we started mingling. I knew some people from my work place, but there were many others I did not know. 

It was very warm in the hall, so most of the men were removing their suit jackets. I had also removed my suit jacket. 

My wife and I were sitting down talking with two ladies. After exchanging greetings the conversation quickly turned to the 1940s, fashion, and eventually to my suspenders. One of the ladies commented that she liked that my suspenders had buttons, pointing to the exterior buttons on my waistline. This was better than the clips that all the other men in the room were wearing, she said. She had apparently been observing.

Yes, that’s the historically accurate way, I said, and more comfortable way to wear suspenders.

Do you wear suspenders often, the other lady asked?

He does, replied my wife, just like in the 1940s.

I love the look and feel of suspenders, I continued. I wear them to the office every work day.

I like the style, said my wife, reaching in and running her fingers up and down the nearest brace strap.

Another lady joined in our conversation and asked about my brace tabs. She had not seen the inverse-U style before and politely asked how they worked.

I said that when I bend forward, the strap glides along the U. I demonstrated by bending forward. I then stood up straight and demonstrated how the strap glided back into alignment in the middle of the U. I explained that this allows the braces to adjust to my body movement and helps soften the pull on the buttons. 

I sat down again. She politely asked to try shifting my brace strap left and right to see them in action, and I agreed. She pushed the strap left and right, observing how the tab shifted along and inverse-U. That’s very clever, she said, as she released the strap and it aligned into position. 

She commented, I love your button suspenders; it’s so rare to see men wearing them. When I saw yours I had to find out more! 

They are a nice vintage accessory, said by wife. These pants are made specifically for button suspenders, she continued. She prompted me to stand up and turn around, to show my back side. 

Wow, the ladies explained as they admired my fish-tail back trousers - look how the pants are made for his suspenders! My wife slipped her fingers underneath the rear strap and followed the strap down towards the brace tab and then to the exterior buttons. She shifted her fingers left and right and explained how the brace tab moved in sync. Historically, all men wore button suspenders with these types of pants, she said.

That’s right, I said, as the three ladies stared at my back side. These are vintage, fish-tail back trousers that are very rare these days, I said.

It is a beautiful look, said one of the ladies, you are so dapper. In fact, you are probably the best dressed man in this room!

I think so, said my wife with a smile.

Thanks to you, I said smiling.

You can sit down again, one of the lady’s said.

I’m glad I could learn about button suspenders today, said another lady. She said her husband would not wear suspenders, but he may wear them with buttons.

The discussion drifted to another topic.

***

At the end of the night, there was a door prize for the best dressed man and women, as voted by the attendees. The master of ceremonies asked for nominations and 3 men were cheered on and came to the front, including me. The ladies that we had talked with had spread the word and a large group cheered the loudest when it was my vote. One person shouted for me to turn around and show my back side. I did so, and that sealed the top spot for the men’s prize. 

Next voting for the ladies happened. The crowd cheered for 3 ladies, eventually deciding on one of them. She was wearing a vintage knee-length, polka-dotted dress. 

The two of us stood at the front as we accepted our knick-knack prizes. We posed for a photo, standing apart from each other and looking somewhat awkward. She must have detected this because while I was looking at the camera, she pulled back the closest suspender straps to her and held it as the photographer captured the moment. She then released the strap as it lightly snapped back.

Congratulations, she said. I love your suspenders with buttons. They are the perfect vintage accessory.

Thank you, I said. Congratulations to you as well on your vintage dress. She smiled.

We stepped off the front area and people turned back to mingling with each other. But the lady continued talking with me, as my wife joined us. The lady wanted to see my back side again, and slipped her finger underneath my rear strap to shift it and watch the brace tab move. 

She asked if I had bought the suit specifically for this event or if I always wear vintage clothes. He loves wearing vintage clothes, replied my wife. He wears this to the office regularly, she said. 

The lady smiled and said how much she loved the high-waisted pants with fish-tail back, the button suspenders, the shoes, … the whole style.

Thank you, I said. How about you, I asked, did you buy that dress just for tonight?

She sheepishly said yes, although she was adamant that she has other vintage skirts and dresses that she wears to the office. We had a lengthy conversation about suspenders and vintage clothes. She wanted to prove to me that she did have vintage clothes. She insisted we meet for lunch and we all wear vintage clothes. I was happy to do so.

When the day came for lunch, I decided to wear a grey suit with high-rise pants, a blue dress shirt, and a vintage tie. The pants were supported by inverse-V, Y-back braces with strips of grey, blue, red, and white.

We met at the restaurant. My wife wanted to wear the suspender trend too, so she wore a colorful high-waisted skirt with a nice blouse. The skirt had straps of the same fabric attached, and crossed at the back.

We met our new friend, who had decided to wear a pleated suit skirt with suspender straps, a blouse and a button up jacket with puffy shoulders.

We walked into the restaurant and before we sat down, we took off our suit jackets. The waitress complimented us on our suspenders and how much she appreciated the vintage styles. We all smiled. We had a wonderful lunch talking about various topics.

Discussion time :

What's your holiday plans? Will braces be part of your outfit?