I dress up for work, either in a full suit, or at least a shirt and tie with slacks and a blazer. I wear a belt every day (black, with black shoes of course), but I’ve always liked the “classic” look of suspenders with a suit. Back in college when I went to a lot of ska shows, I bought a pair of plain black suspenders with clips, to go with my black slacks/white shirt/skinny black tie look, but I’m not sure how “cool” or “professional” clip-on suspenders are. The really cool ones are the button kind, but none of my suit pants have the inner buttons for them. So I guess I’m asking:
Do people think wearing suspenders with a suit is cool? Any particular type or style? I’m not an expert, but I’ve seen the ones with the “X” back and the “Y” back. And do they have to match the tie, or are there guidelines like that?
Would it be worth it to have a tailor sew those buttons into my suit pants, and get a few pairs of suspenders?
Never wear suspenders AND a belt, right?
Anything else I should know, from the more style-conscious?
I am clueless when it comes to the “official” rules, but my gut asthetics tell me that guys in suspenders look hot! I don’t really like a guy in a suit usually, but the suspenders totally turn the look around for me. Maybe because there’s something old-fashioned about them.
Personally, I think the answer to #2 is YES. If you’re going to wear them, you should wear the classy ones. The snap-on kind make me think of preschoolers. As for the style, I really like the Y back ones but I think that’s more a matter of personal preference.
Personally, I’ve always thought the X-back was to actuallty hold your pants up while the Y-back is just for looks. YMMV.
They don’t have to match the tie, just be compatible. If you don’t want to be compatible, then no halfway measures – make them their own fashion statement.
Adding suspender buttons is pretty cheap. As long as you’re having alterations done, I say go for it.
Conventional wisdom says that belt with suspenders is dorky. Of course, conventional wisdom also says that wearing suspenders and having unused belt loops is also dorky. I suppose the goal is to take off the belt loops when you add the suspender buttons. Of the three options, my personal opinion is that keeping the belt loops, but not mixing a belt and suspenders, probably causes the least distubrance in the force.
One final thing – I happen to like suspenders, but there is a certain segment that will think you are insufferably pretentious for wearting them.
All of my suits have the buttons for the Y shaped suspenders. I don’t recall seeing any X shaped ones, nor so my suits have the buttons for them.
They can be the little bit of individuality for color and selection like a tie. Go for a style that matches you. Mine are all subtle and dark to match the suit, but my pocket square always matches or compliments the tie.
I think suspenders are fun, but IMO they are not a professional look.
Perhaps you could get away with suspenders in some industries or offices, but in a typically conservative business environment you will stand out (and not in a good way). There’s a danger people will mentally group you with the bloke who wears bow ties or (horror) cartoon ties…
If you are going to wear suspenders, I’d invest in a pair of trousers without belt loops.
I beg to differ. My SO works in about the most conservative business enviorment there is…corporate accountancy…corporate accountancy in England no less. He has has his own suits made. Hell, he has his own shirts made. And he usually wears braces to work. Looks smashing in them too.
(I also have a picture of him wearing suspenders (which he also looked smashing in) but I grant you that was not a professional look )
I’d go for the buttons, Big Bad.
It’s that old-fashioned look I really like. I love how people like Humphrey Bogart dress in old movies, and I was really into the swing music scene of the late '90s, when all the bands wore these amazing retro suits (often with suspenders). I have enough freedom at my job to make a subtle fashion statement like wearing suspenders, so I think I just might. I think I’ll look sharp with them, especially because I rarely wear my suit jacket or blazer once I get into my office.
If I wear a suit, I wear suspenders. Actually, if I intend to wear a jacket of any kind, I wear suspenders.
I wear them because I find the flow of an outfit is interupted by the bunching up of trousers a belt cinched tightly can cause; or conversely, the slipping down (and constant pulling up) of trousers caused by a belt cinched too loosely. Neither of these things happen with suspenders.
In my opinion, buttons are the only choice to make. The whole idea is to have as many holding points as possible so you are not held up in one place and slipping down in others. Snaps have three or four holding places, buttons usually have twice that many, six or eight, thus the flow of an outfit works better.
I even wear button suspenders with my jeans.
Suspenders can also complement an outfit regarding color and style (there is no outfit that rainbow suspenders complement - by the way).
I should point out that unlike 60 years ago (and briefly in the '70s), they don’t sell trousers that are cut for suspenders. If you watch any of the old films from the '30s and '40s you will see the waist are extremely high. Those were done that way, in part for suspenders (you will also note that the ties were very short because of the raised waist, also).
Final note, suspenders can cause fatigue, sore shoulders and lower back pain. You are carrying the weight of your trousers and everything in the pockets of those trousers on your shoulders and it can become heavy. It doesn’t just rest on your hips like belted pants. That is the reason that many suspender wearers will take them off their shoulders when sitting down or walking around in private.
I guess that last was not my final note. A question might be whether to put the buttons on the inside or outside the trousers. Traditions says inside although among zoot suiters of five or so decades ago and hip types of the '70s and early '80s suspenders buttoned on the outside were quite the thing. I might mention that while I feel buttons on the inside look better, they can be a touch irritating at times.
So should I purchase a couple pairs of suspenders first, and then take them to a tailor with all my suit pants so she can measure where the buttons would go? Are most suspenders pretty uniform as far as the distances and lengths between necessary buttons?
I concur. My dad is a lawyer, and he is super-picky about looking boring and professional (he only wears navy or burgundy ties, for example) - and he wears suspenders!
He wears inside-button, Y-backed, without belt. As far as the Y-backed being for show - believe me, he’s a guy whose pants need to be held up. And the Y-backed suspenders definitely do the job.
Suspenders Rock! Back in my corporate suit and tie brokerage days, I always wore suspenders. I love them and they always generated compliments both from my co-workers and from my clients. So I would always recommend them. But never with a belt. They don’t have to match the tie, but some of mine do. I would at least get some that work with the suit. Navy suit, navy suspenders, that sort of thing. Or you could get ones that have something fun on them. My former boss was a huge baseball fan, particulary the Red Sox. He had multiple sets of baseball related suspenders, Red Sox and otherwise. So have fun with it. They can be part of your wardrobe, or part of your personality.
My rule of thumb (no idea how correct it is) is that, because suspenders have leather anchors coming off the fabric parts, I match the leather to my shoes. It doesn’t have to match exactly, but brown-anchored suspenders go with brown suits and black-anchored suspenders go with grey or black.
I started wearing them because I tend to be an old-fashioned dresser anyway, and I’ve gotten nothing but compliments. They tend to project confidence, at least in my estimation.
I’ll cop to the fact that I picked up the look from one of my law professors, who always looks incredibly smart, confident and pulled-together in his very conservative stylings… but then, you’re in the legal profession, so for the purposes of this advice I could have jacked it from someone much, much worse.
Braces are perfectly appropriate in any office, especially a law office. They are more formal than a belt, so I wouldn’t wear them every day (unless you’re in a banking-law firm). The classic sterotype of the high-powered litigator always has braces.
Now that the '50’s retro look of 5-10 years ago has gone back out of style, both the X-configuration and thin black braces of any type are exclusively for the use of white supremacists.
You should feel free to wear buttons on the outside or clip-on suspenders, but only if your resume is up to date.
Any tailor will know how to put in braces buttons. (The fact that without any input from you he’ll put them on the inside of the pants in a Y-configuration should tell you something.) There’s no need to buy the braces before you have the pants altered.
Braces do not have to match your tie exactly in color or pattern anymore than the tie has to match your shirt and suit. But like your tie, your braces have to fit with the rest of your outfit.
If your office allows casual wear, braces are never to be worn without a tie, and it’s gauche to wear them without a jacket as part of your outfit, although it’s perferctly fine to take the jacket off during the day just as you might on the days you wear a belt.
One final point – only rubes call them suspenders.
–Cliffy
True enough, but Lou got a law degree, so he’s already suffering from that particular malaise.
FWIW, I also work in a conservative office in England. (In London, in broking, natch. Or at least I did, until I quit at Christmas for a period of leisure. ;)) I still consider braces/suspenders to add an unneccesary flourish to an outfit.
(OTOH, if we were to be total fashion nazis, a proper bespoke suit should require neither a belt (or belt loops) or suspenders. It should fit without accessories.)
There’s a difference between braces and suspenders, so it’s not a matter of pretention but accuracy. Braces are as **Cliffy ** mentioned, very much for gentlemen and/or retro. Suspenders are thought of, by some, to be like clip-on ties. Wide, blinking nipples on a nudie clip-on ties.
In my opinion, suspenders are okay, but sort of informal and it’s best that be kept in mind, if you worry about such things. And I like the look of a man in braces, Cary Grant wore 'em, sigh…