Accessory · Small Leather
Braces
Braces hold trousers up from the shoulders instead of squeezing the waist, and they are why mid-century trousers hang the way they do.
Braces suspend the trousers from the shoulders, so the trouser hangs from the natural waist without gripping. Traditional braces button to the trouser rather than clipping, which requires brace buttons and a trouser cut for them. They are the reason mid-century trousers hang the way they do.
Why they change the look
A belt holds a trouser by compression at one point, which pulls the cloth in at the waist and lets the rest hang from there. Braces suspend the whole trouser, so it hangs straight from the waistband with no tension across the seat and hip.
The visible result is a cleaner line from waist to hem, no bunching at the waistband under a jacket, and a trouser that stays where it was put. This is most of the reason trousers in photographs from the 1930s to the 1950s look different from modern ones: the cut is high and the trouser is hung, not clamped.
Button, not clip
Proper braces button to buttons sewn inside the waistband, usually six, sometimes eight. Clip-on braces grip the waistband edge, damage the cloth, and slip.
Adding brace buttons to an existing trouser is a small job for any tailor. Wearing braces and a belt simultaneously is a mistake so common it needs stating: they fight each other.
Getting the length right
Braces should hold the trouser at the natural waist with the shoulder straps taut but not pulling. Too tight and they drag the trouser up and pull the shoulders forward; too loose and the trouser sits low and the point is lost.
Y-back braces sit flatter under a jacket than X-back and are the traditional form. Leather ends outlast elasticated ones, and both should be replaced when they harden rather than allowed to tear the buttons out.
Images
Licensing →
At a glance
How it is made
All techniques →
Picture credits 3
- Boxcloth braces on flannel trousers: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
- Boy with suspenders in 1904, "First Suspenders" LCCN2002723369 (cropped): Photograph · Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
- The inside of a bespoke trouser waistband: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art