Tales of a Brace-wearer (Part I)

A man was in his first week at a new corporate office. The corporate dress code was primarily suits but also blazers and dress pants.
One day the man was stopped by a couple of female colleagues. “Can we ask you a question?” one asked, “We’ve been talking about your style; your suits look so well put together.”
“Thank you,” said the man.
The lady continued, “Your clothes fit well, and you look comfortable in them: your shirt stays tucked in, your pants don’t drag on the ground, your pants stay at your waistline, you’re not constantly adjusting your pants like other guys around here. Your pants stay in place, but I don’t see you wearing a belt. If you don’t wear a belt, then you must be wearing … suspenders?”

Box-cloth braces

With a smile, the man flipped open his jacket to reveal a pair of royal blue braces.
“I knew it had to be suspenders!” exclaimed the second lady.
“Yes, these are the answer to why everything fits together. They are very comfortable and practical, and I don’t need to be concerned about my pants all day,” said the man.
 “What kind of suspenders are those? I have not seen suspenders with leather attachments at the waist before. How do they attach to the pants?”
“There are small buttons sewn onto the waistband of my pants. The straps are connected by these brace tabs that are either in an inverted-V or inverted-U – these are inverted-U. When suspenders attach to the pants with buttons they are generally called ‘braces’, and when they attach with alligator clips they are called ‘suspenders’. Some pants have the buttons on the outside of the waistband, some on the inside, depending on your preference.”
“I see,” said the second lady. “That’s so classy. I love the look. Buttons are more sophisticated than clips.”
“I prefer the buttons over the clips as well. In addition to being classy, when you have buttons there are more anchor points to keep my pants aligned all day long, regardless of my movements. But there’s more to it than just brace tabs attached to buttons. The buttons are positioned in specific locations along the waistline to anchor the pants, both at the front and back.” The man motioned with his hand, “let me explain: see how the buttons are aligned directly with the pleats, and on the side of the pants with the pockets?”
“Yes” agreed the women.
“The brace buttons secure the pants at the right locations – at the pleat line, to keep the line perfectly straight, and at the pockets. Think of it as an anchor here at the pleat line,” pointing to the location, “and an anchor here at the pockets. A single anchor - whether attached by a single brace tab or alligator clip - would be insufficient, regardless of where it is placed. That’s why clips simply don’t provide the same level of comfort and support for pants.”

“Now that you mention it, that makes sense. I’ve never thought about that. It’s no surprise that you look so put together – the pleats are kept straight with the brace buttons anchoring them at just the right places on the waistline,” said the first women.
 “Exactly; and the other side of the brace tabs anchor the side of the pants,” motioned the man.
“Yes, I can see how it works now,” said the lady. “How about on the back of the pants? How do the buttons anchor the pants?”
The man removed his jacket to show the rear, fish-tail back detailing.
The women breathed in, “Oh wow, these pants are designed for braces!”
“Exactly, the fabric over each leg comes to a climax at the anchoring brace buttons, which are held in line with the brace loop, which in turn is held perfectly in line with the rear brace strap. It all aligns perfectly to give a clean look at the back,” stated the man.
“Yes, I can see why your pants look so coordinated and fit so well,” said the women. “The pants are held up at all the right points to keep the pleats and pocket aligned, and at the rear over each leg.”
“That’s fantastic,” said the other lady. “The design of the pants fabric to come up to meet the braces is truly unique. It completes the look of the braces. I have never seen this before. It’s so stunning and sophisticated!”
“Thank you,” beamed the man.

 

“You don’t find pants like that off the rack in stores.”
“Agreed,” said the man.
“So where did you get them?”
“This pair I had custom-made. It’s called a ‘fish tail back’,” said the man.
“Going back to how braces attach to the pants – with buttons…” said the women.
“Yes, the buttons allow you to exchange one pair of braces with another for different looks. Sewing on buttons is an easy skill to learn,” said the man. “And it would be helpful to know, as buttons can sometimes pop off.”
The women smiled, “Ah yes, now that you mention it, I recall a black and white photo of working men with the brace tabs on one side connecting to only one point on the waistline, a button must have come off. Is that common?”
“It’s very rare for buttons to come off if they have been sewn on securely. Buttons don’t come off unless they’re under significant, prolonged pressure or the threads are worn down. I’ve been wearing braces for over 15 years and only had a few buttons pop off in that time. As the buttons are anchoring at the right locations, when one pops off you notice the change in tension and drooping pants right away. Men have been wearing braces with buttons for over 150 years, and if they didn’t withstand the daily demands of life back then, they couldn’t today.”

The man continued. “I find buttons grip far better over the long term than clips can. Aside from your buttons being anchoring points, clips snap off all the time as they only clinch the fabric, not firmly attach to it. Clips also damage the fabric, so for formal dress fabrics, clips should never be used. Braces stay firmly anchored with buttons. I like the vintage look of braces. Having been worn for over 150 years, they are timeless and classy.”
“Yes they are. I recall old photographs of men wearing braces and wondering why men don’t wear them anymore. Why aren’t more men wearing braces?”
“The height of the waistline on men’s pants is the primary reason,” the man responded. “Waistlines have inched lower and lower over time. Historically, waistlines were at or above the belly-button. This elongated the legs and made the man look taller. There is also a slight budge at the waist, so higher waisted pants pass smoothly over this budge. But in order to keep pants at this higher waist, braces must be used to support them.”
“I think another reason is that people associate suspenders with the clip-on variety and that’s a major turn off,” says the man. “Clips snap off, don’t anchor the pleat and side of the pants at the same time, and because you can easily take suspenders from one pair of pants to another, they look cheap. Braces are practical, stylish, and classy. I think more men should try braces and discover the comfort and confidence that comes with wear braces.”
“I agree,” chimed the women.

The man turned to go, but the first lady wasn’t finished. “As a stylish man, why do you leave your jacket on? Why not show off your braces and the stylish pants. I’m sure people would appreciate your style, as much as we have!”

“Thank you for the compliments on my style. Historically braces were considered an undergarment and not to be displayed. They were considered underwear and only your immediate family saw them. This thinking has changed and it’s now acceptable to display braces. But as braces are a vintage accessory, some of this traditional thinking carries on.”

“I see; but there are lots of old photographs of men showing their braces, without a jacket. I actually like seeing braces and the different styles and designs – it adds to the outfit. I love your pant style at the back, what did you call it? Fish-tail back? You don’t need to hide this special tailoring. I think you would agree with me,” turning to the other lady, “that braces can be proudly displayed.”
“Absolutely”, nodded the women.

“Thanks for the encouragement. And thanks again for the complements on my pants and braces.”

“You’re welcome.” 

The next day, the women gathered at the man’s office, eager to see his outfit for the day. He had taken off his blazer and was wearing a classy dress shirt with a pair of grey pants held in place by braces. The braces were stripped grey and navy.
“Love the braces; they complement your grey pants well,” admired the lady. “Are they fish-tail back pants today?”
The man stood up and smiled, turning around to reveal the fish-tail back details.

Y-back vs X-back Styles

One of the special things about wearing braces is the different styles they come in. By style, I mean the structure of the straps on the torso. Brace straps can go:

• vertical on both the front and the rear (which I'll refer to as "parallel straps")
• vertical on the front and cross/come together at the back ("standard straps"), or
• crossed on the front, and crossed on the back ("crossed straps")

99% of the time the straps are worn vertically in the front and crossed in the rear. This is the most comfortable to wear and convenient to put the straps on and off.

Before we dive into the standard strap structure let's review the other two styles. First, the crossed straps may look fashionable, but this is very distracting to have a large X in the front of your chest. For ladies, this it probably uncomfortable as it sits in the wrong place. I managed to find one photo of someone crossing the straps in the front (see right). Part of me thinks the model didn't know how to wear the braces, so put them on as such.

Second, the parallel brace straps run over the shoulders and attach to the same side on both the front and back. The straps are not connected to each other at the rear. As a result, when they don’t have sufficient tension in the straps they will easily slip from the shoulders, as nothing is holding them together. This style was the original design of suspenders. People eventually found that the straps slipped off their shoulders. They needed a better way to keep the straps from slipping off by holding them together at the rear. As such, people decided to join the straps together at the center back (H-back) or simply cross the straps at the rear for an X formation.

The H-back style connects the two straps at the back, but does not cross them. These braces effectively support the pants and do not slip off the shoulders. In fact, lederhosen are designed around the H-back style. Wear H-back braces if you can find them, as they are rare.

Now onto the standard styles. They come in 2 styles: crossed over (X-back) or join (Y-back). 

Y-back braces have shoulder straps that join together at the mid-point of the back and then go into a single strap to attach to the pants. Sometimes the elastic continues down the single strap, sometimes it stops at the junction (as shown below).

Y-back braces

 

Y-back braces

 

An older variation on the Y-back style is the V-back, shown below. This was the style up to the 1950s to accommodate the higher waistlines of pants. The vertical strap was not necessary as the rear waistline rose higher on the man's shoulders.

V-back braces

Vintage photo of V-back braces

 

X-back go down over the shoulders and cross-over to the other side, generally sewn together at the junction. This allows the button placement to be broader along the rear of the pants. 

 

Jeans with X-back style braces

Where the waistline is small, say a 32 or 34 inch waistline, the Y-back style provides plenty of support at the rear. However, once the waistline is above 38 inches, and especially at 40 inches, having Y-back style only supports the center and becomes ineffective means of supporting the rear of the pants. The larger waistband requires straps to be spread along the waistline. As such, it is more appropriate to use X-back design to support larger waistlines. As such, X-back braces are recommended for portly individuals. To illustrate, this gentleman is wearing a large waist size. He should have opted for X-back style rather than the Y-back braces he's wearing to support the rear of his pants over a broader area:

Y-back braces with large pants

 

I'd recommend he wear X-back braces like these shown below to provide better overall support at the rear of his pants.

X-back braces with large pants

I've worn both Y-back and X-back styles and find them both comfortable. Y-back braces with inverse-U tabs have a slight bulge as the leather twists around the U at the top. This extrudes slightly, so when you lean back on a flat surface, the bulge sticks into your back and can become uncomfortable. X-back braces do not have this bulge and so can be more comfortable when sitting in a chair.

Notice the total of 4
brace buttons on the back

Fish-tail back Y-back braces

Some people suggest that Y-back are more stylish than X-back. I disagree. I think they are both stylish. From a functional perspective, there are advantages for each. Y-back attaches to the middle of the pants, and provide support for smaller waistlines. But they can provide the random wedgie. When button-on Y-back braces are used, the space between the buttons is generally about 4 inches, and can cause the pants to ride up. This look is desired when wearing a fish-tail back such as those illustrated to the left.

The junction on X-back braces cross higher on the back and thus can be spaced wider apart when they reach the pants. I've worn pants with buttons placed 6 to 6.5 inches apart at the rear. This allows X-back braces to anchor more of the rear waistband and provides better support over the top of the leg, where it's needed most. Thus, when you need to hold up the pants, X-back is preferred. That's why when I wear work jeans, I usually prefer to wear X-back braces as I need my braces to keep my jeans supported while I work throughout the day.

 

If your braces are made for it, you can add two more connection points to X back to have a total of 4 at the rear, and ensure your pants are secure. Notice how level the pants are to the right.

X-back braces may also have the added benefit of positioning the junction at the correct height, relative to the wearer. This is important for people with sloped shoulders. When the junction is lower on the back, the shoulder straps will have a tendency to slip down the sloped shoulders and even slip off. This is annoying and doesn’t serve the braces purpose. To solve this problem, the junction should be raised higher on the back, closer to the neck, while still being comfortable. X-back braces generally have a movable junction to facilitate this. 

When I see someone wearing suspenders or braces, I’m always curious as to the rear design – are they X-back, Y-back, or something else? When I see someone approaching wearing braces, I always turn around to look at their back side. As they pass I usually smile and compliment them on their braces.
 

I also look at where the buttons positioned along the waistband; are they above the main pleat and side steam or randomly positioned? These telling signs indicate if the wearer knows how to wear braces or not.

Braces can also slip off your shoulders if the junction is too low, as illustrated below. As the junction is movable, she should raise it up to her shoulder blades:

The junction on these braces is not movable, but is at the correct height. Notice also the fish-tail back of this lady's style:

If the back junction cannot move, you can effectively raise the junction by adding tabs from excess materials of the pants, like this:

Pants with tabs to raise the junction

Placement of braces without tabs

X-back braces can also use a D-ring, illustrated below. These are common among Albert Thurston braces and very comfortable.

D-ring rear junction braces by Albert Thurston

Swivel Back Braces

One variety of X-back braces that is very comfortable is the swivel-back braces, as illustrated to the left. These are also known as Paris Free-Swing braces. These have a joint loop that swivels with the bodies movement. I have tried these out and can verify that they are very comfortable and keep the suspender straps in place on the shoulders – no slipping!

Here's the complete look, complements of this link - very stylish.

There's also ads for President Suspenders. I have yet to see these in use. They look comfortable and very flexible, with all the pulleys and strings, but that could also be annoying.

You may think that we have exhausted all the possible styles for braces. On the contrary, there have been at least 12 different versions over the history of braces, as shown here:

And a page from the "Suspender Department" from an old catalogue.

I have both Y-back and X-back styles in my collection, but predominantly more Y-back as they are more common. I find that the X-back style provides better overall support of my pants, as the straps have a larger spread across the rear. I love wearing both styles!
 

Discussion time:

• What do you think of the different styles?
• Do you find the Y-back or X-back style more comfortable?

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