I’m going to talk to you about the five different types of suspenders, how to buy them, and what to look for when buying them.
Because if you’re looking for suspenders, the last thing you want to do is spend money on something you won’t wear or that doesn’t fit your needs.
I’ll give you a basic overview right now.
Let’s get started.
Business Dress Suspenders
Type number one are business dress suspenders. Suspenders originated in this field.
Suspenders were once considered standard underwear for all dress pants and formal trousers. This was the method you kept your pants up.
Belts were introduced, and they quickly became very popular. They’ve been around for a long time, but after WWII, they became considerably more popular.
Clothing shortages were common during the wars. As a result, producers had to devise cost-cutting strategies.
As a result, the pants were shortened. When the manufacturers saw the jeans, they commented, “A lower rise is preferred by most consumers. We’ll just put the belt in place and make it work.”
So in many instances, it was those scarcity which led to the demise of suspenders.
They do, however, exist and are still quite popular due to their practicality. They’re effective.
In menswear, if you have a larger stomach, if you’re a businessman wearing suits and want something that’s actually more comfortable than a restrictive belt that applies tension to your midsection, and you’d rather look a little bit more fashionable, I would highly recommend business dress suspenders.
The classic Y form is used for business dress suspenders.
Furthermore, you’ll notice that they’re roughly 1 to 1.5 inches wide, which is ideal.
More fashionable suspenders will be seen if you see anything thinner. I’ll go over those in more detail later.
There are also buttons or clips.
Clips are usually the cheapest option for people who don’t want to have their trousers modified and don’t wear them all the time.
Buttons are for men who wear suspenders and have special pants designed to go with them.
These trousers are usually a little longer and have buttons stitched into the inside.
If you don’t have bespoke trousers or need to tweak your present ones, you may either go to a tailor or do it yourself and make this work.
You’ll also notice that they’re constructed of leather, silk, and elastic material.
Casual Suspenders
Let’s talk about some fashionably casual suspenders now.
This will be a place where you can see a large range of fabrics. Elastic, largely synthetic, will be seen.
They’ll be a touch less expensive than their business counterparts.
What you’ll notice about the fashionable ones is that they’ll be wearing brighter colors.
They’ll get a little thinner, to the point where they’ll be almost half an inch wide, up to an inch and a half.
The majority of the connections will be clips, which is due to the fact that most men who wear them do so because they want to utilize it as a fashionable accessory to add to their existing wardrobe.
Higher-end suspender manufacturers, on the other hand, do sell them on occasion.
If the suspenders are a little nicer, they’ll usually use the button.
That’s one method to tell the difference in quality.
Usually greater quality, not in the case of work suspenders, but in the case of business suspenders, fashionably casual suspenders, or black tie suspenders, the attachment with the button will be a mark of quality.
Black Tie Suspenders
That brings me to the third category, which will be black tie. They are usually white or black and are rather simple.
With black tie attire, these serve a practical purpose.
The trousers are usually a little higher, especially if they are custom-made.
They’ll see a width of around an inch to an inch and a half. Silk will be used to make them, especially the higher-end ones.
You’ll also see elastics, grosgrain, and a few more fabrics used, but these will be the most basic.
They’re usually adjustable, and black tie doesn’t always necessitate them.
If you rent a tuxedo or black tie, you may discover that a belt is included.
It is not a must. You are not need to purchase suspenders.
However, if you’re having a custom black tie outfit built, consider suspenders and having it made the traditional way.
Work Suspenders
This isn’t a topic that gets a lot of attention in the menswear world.
Suspenders for work are really practical because a nice work belt can be fairly costly.
Finding suspenders that fit in and around your current belt and allow you to attach objects to it without it dropping down your pants is one approach to get around this.
This is the only time you can use suspenders with a belt, and these will be much bigger.
So you’ll see them up to approximately two inches since you’ll be carrying weight and want to spread the weight evenly across your shoulders.
They’ll be built out of extremely durable materials.
You’ll see that some of them are made of cotton, which makes them washable, but you’ll also notice leather.
Elastic is going to be uncommon, owing to the fact that you’re supporting weight, and they don’t like to be stretched.
If they’re not using a belt strap, they’ll be employing a bite clip, which has a tack in it.
It’ll actually blend in with the jeans and stay put. On leather, you don’t want to use a biting clip. It’ll leave a permanent impression.
Buttons are another style that you’ll see, and you can acquire clip-on buttons that will allow you to button it in.
Undergarment Suspenders
The undergarment suspender is for a man who is wearing a guayabera or who has a medium sized stomach and does not want to draw up his pants.
This is a terrific covert technique to wear suspenders while keeping your pants up and hidden beneath your shirt.
You won’t be able to tuck your shirt in with this, but it’s a fantastic choice for a man who just wants to wear his shirt untucked without having to pull up his pants.