Suspenders: Chronological Trends


Figure 1.--The French boys were photographed in France during 1940. Notice the suspenders that the older boy is wearing.

Suspenders were very common in the 19th century for both boys and girls. We also see older boys wearing them in the early 20th century. They declined in popularity in part because of the development of suspender pants, with suspenders straps made in the same material as the pants rather then special elasticised material. At times they have been seen as old-fashioned, but they never totally disappeared. One U.S. reader reports, "I remember suspenders being worn by younger boys in the 1950s, but most school-age boys looked on them as old fashioned. Another reader writes, "I remember wearing suspenders, not a belt, with dress pants in the 1960s. Couldn't have been very old, 5 or 6. I think when I was in first grade, some other boys wore suspenders, too. To be sure, though, formost of my school years, boys wore belts, not suspenders." Suspenders became very fashionable in the 1980s, but now attract less attention.

The 18th Century

Suspenders for trousers and knee breeches seem to have been invented by the French around the time of the French Revolution. These "bretelles" (or braces) were originally made of silk and fastened onto buttons on the outside of the waistline of trousers or breeches.

The 19th Century

Napoleon had a pair with his symbolic bumble bees embroidered on them. An Englishman called Albert Thurston made and sold braces for trousers in 1820, and from then on, braces became the standard means of suspending trousers in Great Britain. This seems to be related to the devlopment of elastic in 1820. Gradually Suspenders were very common in the 19th century for both boys and girls. In 1871 Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain, the American author of "Huckleberry Finn")took out the first of three different patents on suspenders for trousers. Before 1900 in America and Europe it was unusual to have belt loops on trousers because suspenders were considered the proper means of holding trousers in place. The term, suspenders, is American, not English; and confusion is still caused by the fact that the word "suspenders" in England refers to hose supporters for stockings. Most suspenders were fastened to trousers by buttons, but in 1894 the first patent for metal clips was registered, and since then clips have competed with leather ends with button-holes.

The 20th Century

We also see school-age boys commonly wearing suspenders in the early 20th century. This seems especially true for working-class children, respecially younger children. Older teenagers even from affluent families also wore them. We see little different as to suspender trends in the 1910s. Suspenders declined in popularity in part because of the development of suspender pants, with suspenders straps made in the same material as the pants rather then special elasticised material. Suspenders were very popular with boys and young men during the 1930s and 1940s. We see boys still wearing suspenders in the 1930s, but there were several alteratives such as suspender pants and button-on clothing. Belts were not nearly as popular as they are today. We note suspenders adverized with stocking supporters. The style offered for boys was the clip-on style. Suspenders were still commonlybworn in the 1940s. School portraits from the 1940s show quite a few boys wearing suspenders with their pants. They seem to be mostly narrow suspenders with clipon devices to attach to the pants. At times suspenders have been seen as old-fashioned, but they never totally disappeared. One U.S. reader reports, "I remember suspenders being worn by younger boys in the 1950s, but most school-age boys looked on them as old fashioned."Here there seem to have been differences even within countries. Suspenders largely disappeared as boys wear during the 1960s. By the 1960s they had almost disappeared in most of the industrial countries--especially in the United States. They became, however, the signature item of clothing in skin-head culture during the 1960s and 1970s in Britain. Suspenders became very fashionable in the 1980s, but not for boys.

21st Century

Suspenders in the 21st Century seem to be making a modest comeback. Many people think suspenders are much more comfortable to wear than belts, and fashionable bespoke tailors on Saville Row almost always insist on making trousers with buttons for braces because they think that trousers look much better when braces hold them properly in place. German, British, and French officers wore suspenders with their uniforms in World Wars I and II, although American officers usually did not. Suspenders are still standard wear with evening dress--white and black tie. A reader writes, "I have noted some indications of the returning popularity of suspenders for teenage American boys. The clip-on style that can be worn with jeans is the one being adopted. Skinhead styles are being revived in Britain and Germany among teenage boys--blue jeans worn with tee-shirts and very thin clip-on braces (suspenders)."





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Created: 8:12 PM 10/19/2004
Last updated: 12:59 AM 8/10/2007