Those aren’t suspenders, those are garters! Like for your socks. Are suspenders that hold up Brits’ [del]pants[/del] trousers known as “braces”?
“For a true taste of the West Country, serve [your pork faggots] with creamy mash & mushy peas.”
That’s hot.
Yep.
Well, yes and no.
The original point of this thread was differences between the UK vs US English meanings of ‘pants’, which it seems means ‘underwear’ in the UK and ‘trousers’ in the US. It then (as threads do) deviated merrily to cover other clothing terms, including ‘suspenders’ (OK, I may have brought that up inadvertently).
With that in mind, in the UK, commonly suspenders means what in the US are called ‘garter belts’ (Yeah, you got me on a technicality,the suspender parts are the elastic ribbons which run from the suspender belt to the stocking tops. I would presume* that nowadays most women, when they do wear stockings, prefer the kind with built-in elastic tops which don’t need garter/suspenders (those are likely the Tesco “Hold-Up” styles I linked to earlier). And yes, UK men wear ‘braces’ for their trousers, and ‘garters’ for their socks (why do sock garters still exist? Men’s socks have had built in elastic tops for many decades now. Do they wear really crappy stretched out socks?).
OK, last question from me. Pants are underwear in the UK, fine. So…what of ladies’ PANTS SUITS? Half-hearted searching of varied UK retailers brought up Trousers Suit, Pants Suit, and various derivates thereof. How will the Daily Mail mock Hillary Clinton if she wins the presidency if they can’t use “President Pants Suit?” like the American RW media does?
*I never use assume, I’ve seen the “Odd Couple” joke too many times…
Good to know!
…
The only time I wear leg coverings is pantihose for job interviews, but I suspect at least half the time, thigh-high stockings are used decoratively for sexy times and the woman would wear a garter belt to complete the ensemble.
Are you saying that a man wearing black socks and garters can’t be sexy? 
Linky is SFW, but mind bleach may be recommended.
Those “pants” make anything sexy.
Seeing as the general topic has come up: If “knickers” are another word for underpants, then what do you call knickers, as possibly worn by some of those who developed the 1920s Style Death Ray, like these, for example?
Plus fours
I annoy Coffeespouse by referring to the singular of pantyhose: pantyho.
While we’re at it, Americans call waistcoats “vests”, and call vests “tank tops.”
Why would you want a pair with only one leg?
IIRC “plus fours” or “plus twos” referred to the number of extra inches around the trouser legs measured at the widest part, just above where they were cinched around the lower leg. Those expressions came to denote the particular style or cut of the knickers, but the general term for the style was knickers. Judging from photographs I’ve seen, plus fours ballooned out a lot more than the what the young man in my link is wearing. He’s probably got on plus twos if that.
I’m not sure exactly where it was considered socially appropriate to wear knickers. The picture I posted is of a class officer, in the first year or two of my high school’s existence. He looks sharp and seems to get away with it easily. Knickers were also worn by small boys, but this dude looks quite urbane and self assured. I’ve never been able to figure out the social and cultural meaning of knickers. I do believe they were frequently worn on golf courses in those days. (1925, if that helps.)
Hmmm. Yes, you’re right; they’re nowhere near baggy enough for plus fours, although I’ll maintain that shown that image, most Brits would reach for “plus fours”, or more likely “dunno”.
Could I suggest “breeks” then? Although that’s more Scottish rather than generally British English.
Yes, it’s just trouser suit, although if the Daily Mail wants to mock with a bit of Pants Suit banter, I’m sure no Brits head will explode at the concept.
So how do Brits distinguish between trousers and “lesser” pants? To be clear, not all pants are trousers. The pants I wear to work are trousers, but the pants I wear to work in the yard are not.
They’re still trousers, but we tend to call them by what specifically they are to distinguish them from more traditional/formal trousers, e.g. we’d usually say “jeans” or “tracksuit bottoms” rather than “trousers”.
I hesitate to ask what comes you your mind when you hear the term “sweat pants.”
Regarding the knickerbockers - they’re breeches. Plus fours et al are a variety of breeches. Knickerbockers are another variety of breeches. They might also be called “knee breeches” but that’s kind of a tautology.
Most soldiers in WW1 wore breeches, officers often wore jodhpur breeches. Some officers were still wearing them in WW2, including the classic German officer dress uniforms. George Patton was a fan of jodhpur breeches too.
Military breeches were usually worn with puttees - long strips of cloth wrapped around the calf - during WW1, by WW2 they were worn with long boots - the iconic jackboots for Germans - or short boots with gaiters, which are canvas (or rarely leather) leggings that are buttoned on or attached with straps. Later in the war the Germans switched from jackboots to short boots and gaiters like most other countries’ armies.
Yes I am a bit of a nerd about this stuff, and yes I own and have worn in public a pair of jodhpur breeches with puttees. You might be surprised how practical they are.
…of course there’s a wikipedia article on breeches, too.