Brace Buttons on the Outside or Inside of the Waistband?

Once you’ve decided to wear braces with buttons, the next step is to determine whether the buttons should go on the inside of the waistband or on the outside. It's a significant decision with pros and cons.But first, how did we get here?

Gary Cooper has brace buttons on the outside of his waistband

Buttons were historically sewn on the outside as it was easier to sew completely through the fabric, and the buttons were generally kept behind a vest, at least at the front. At the rear, the vest would rise slightly and you generally saw the rear brace tabs peaking out and attached to buttons on the outside of the waistband.

After World War II men turned to belts over braces. As men shed vests, the buttons migrated to the inside, for reasons no one completely knows. Some say it was to hide the buttons as they were thought of to be part of your undergarments. I don't buy that as buttons are on display on suit jackets, pants, and many other garments. There's nothing wrong with seeing buttons on clothing, so why hide brace buttons?

My theory from looking at countless historical photos of people wearing braces - men and women, and young and old - is that when the pants or skirt had belt loops, the brace buttons went on the inside. When the pants or skirt had no belt loops, the brace buttons generally went on the outside of the waistband.

The problem with moving the buttons to the inside is that they lost some of the functionality: enter the dreaded rollover.

The terrible waistband roll-over

When sewing buttons on the inside, if the button thread does not go all the way through the waistline the braces will pull up the inside of the waistline, separating from the outside of the waistline. The inside lining of the waistline rises, but not the outside lining of the waistline. This looks terrible and is what's called the roll-over:

Roll-over of the waistline

The braces still hold up the pants, but this looks very sloppy. It shows poor workmanship for whoever sewed the buttons on.

To avoid the rollover, make sure the button threads are sewn almost completely through the waistline - make sure the lining is secured to the button. It may also help to put the button on the upper portion of the waistline to minimize the separation. Pants from the first part of last century have brace buttons lined at the top of the waistline to also avoid this problem.

Or you may consider sewing completely through the pants using the same color thread as the pant material, but this can appear as poor workmanship and should be avoided where possible.

Alternatively, get acquainted with where buttons were put when braces were first invented: on the outside of the waistband.

 

Buttons on the outside of the waistband of this man in this vintage photograph

Advantages of wearing buttons on the outside

The advantages of wearing buttons on the outside are the additional style and design choices from having buttons on display. While it may not be appropriate for a traditional business suit, you can wear colored buttons to accent the waistline and braces on different outfits. Women tended to do this in the past.

Clara Bows wears braces with accented, exterior buttons on her high waist shorts

 

Another advantage of having exterior buttons is at the rear. As you bend forward, buttons on the outside allow your brace tabs to follow your spine and support your pants at the rear. Buttons sewn on the inside would pull on the waistline, as it creates a tangent from your spine.

In addition, when wearing a vest, buttons sewn on the outside allow the vest to slide down the brace tab and onto the pants, whereas the vest can get stopped up when it slides down on buttons sewn on the inside.

I’ve read that buttons on the inside add pressure to the waist and can hurt. I think the waistband is too tight in these cases, and braces are not necessary. In fact, pants worn with braces should be about 1 inch looser then your standard waist measurement to allow them to actually suspend your pants!

As a final advantage to having exterior buttons, in the unlikely event that a button starts to come apart and pop off, it's easier to notice and bystanders can point it out before the button pops off and is lost. This is especially helpful for rear buttons. I was wearing a pair of high-waisted cotton chinos with exterior brace buttons. I had a number of errands to run that day. When I was in line at the grocery store, a nice lady tapped me on the arm and mentioned that my rear button was coming off. I reached around to feel the loose button. I thanked her as I fiddled with the button before it came off.

 

Disadvantages of wearing buttons on the outside

There are disadvantages: buttons can catch on things, such as the backs of chairs. If a button were to pop off, it would catapult outward and could hurt bystanders. They also look more vintage, which may be exactly the look you are going for!

Kirsten Bell wearing vintage braces (with buttons on the outside)

Furthermore, if you want to wear pants with both Y-back and X-back braces, it is best to have different button placement for each to accommodate the Y and X anchors. This means that you need four buttons on the rear waistline. When these four buttons are on the outside, two buttons will be unused. This looks unpolished; like having empty belt loops when wearing braces. Therefore, if you plan to wear both Y-back and X-back braces at different button placements, it's recommended to put the buttons on the inside.

The other disadvantage to having buttons on the outside is that they should all be the same type of button. If by chance, you lose a button or two and can't find exact replicas, it would be best to remove the remaining buttons on the outside and sew them all on the inside to not show off your miss-matched buttons - unless you don't mind that look. A pair of my work jeans has a whole collection of random, miss-matched buttons sewn on the inside, and nobody knows except for me!

Buttons on the inside and outside?

In case you are thinking about it, it's totally acceptable to have your front buttons different from your rear buttons – or vice versa. I’ve even seen the front inner buttons be on the inside and the front side buttons be on the outside! Now that’s changing it up.

It's quite common to have the front buttons sewn into the inside of the waistband, and the rear buttons sewn onto the outside of the waistband. This is stylish, but also has a functional aspect from simple physics. When a person is standing up, their back is straight, like a vertical, straight line. When they bend their torso forward, this creates a curvature along the spin. The further the bend, the more curved the spin.

When buttons on sewn on the inside of the waistband, the waistband tends to stay straight and drift apart from where the brace tabs are - that is, the waistband does not remain flush. It's a slight separation between the shirt and waistband. In physics, this is a tangent that follows the curvature but remains a straight line.

When buttons are sewn on the outside of the waistband, the brace tabs maintain the flush effect with the shirt. The brace tabs overlay the waistband and keep it along your spine.

This man's rear braces are attached on the outside of the
waistband and pull the pant fabric when he bends forward

My personal preference

When I started wearing braces I hid the buttons on the inside of the waistband. This was partly because that’s what I saw and hadn’t researched the history of braces at that point. I then came across the “Hollywood waist” where there’s no waistband on the pants – the fabric goes all the way up to the waist. This style looked very interesting and implied that the vertical line could go from head to toe with minimal breaks. I saw a lot of these pants with the buttons on the outside of the waistband. The more I wore pants with braces, the more I came to enjoy the style and the throwback to when every man wore braces. 

Over time and the more I learned about the history of braces, I have grown to appreciate having my rear buttons on the outside of my waistband. Buttons used to be sewn on the outside and that's more of a vintage vibe, which I prefer. This gives an accent of color and shows off how the braces attach to my pants. When people see that I'm wearing braces, one of their first questions is how the braces attach to the waistline. I state it's with buttons and then turn around to show them!

My current preference is to highlight the rear brace buttons
on the outside of the waistband

I quite like seeing buttons on the outside of the waistline, even if I can't see mine at the rear when wearing braces. It's an opportunity to use buttons that are more decorative and unique. The details of the brace tabs next to the waistline, with a button showing is quite spectacular.

I'll leave the decision up to you whether to put your buttons on the outside or inside of the waistline.

My current preference is for both! The buttons at the front are sewn on the inside to keep a polished look, and then the rear buttons are on the outside to allow the brace tabs to be flush with the back, better support the waistband, and to highlight the rear buttons! That said, I do have quite a few pairs of pants with front and rear buttons on the outside, or pants with front and rear buttons on the inside of the waistband..

In conclusion, where you put your brace buttons is up to you and your style. If you have many pants, do a combination of both!