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Suspenders are a clothing accessory. In British English, suspenders (called garters in North America) are small straps or bands that hold up socks or stockings. For stockings, they are usually attached to a suspender belt or the bottom of a corset, and have special clips on their ends.
In US English, suspenders (called braces in Great Britain and sometimes in North America) are elastic straps, run over the shoulders, that hold up trousers or a skirt. Braces were at one time worn almost universally, due to the higher cut of late 19th and early 20th-century trousers which made wearing a belt less effective since it could not rest on the hips. Elasticated (and better-fitting?) garments may also play a part. However, many business people and lawyers still wear suspenders, whether for image or comfort, and they are regarded as fashionable by some.
External links
Patents
- http://www.suspenders.com (suspenders)
- US323416 -- Suspenders -- G. C. Hale
- US121992 -- Improvement in adjustable and detachable straps for garments -- M. Twain
SOUTHFIELD — Huey Lewis sang “It’s hip to be square.” Sal Herman’s has taken a square product, suspenders, and found a niche market of people who don’t have the hips to wear belts and made it into a real fashion statement.
“I was a suspender wearer and suspenders have a tendency to slip because of metal fatigue, especially when you bend over” he said. “I came up with a better mousetrap.” Herman started tinkering with suspender clips in the 1990s. He created a new design, patented his clip, which is guaranteed not to slip, slide or pop off, and opened the Holdup Suspender Co. He initially started selling suspenders to consumers through mail order. Then Herman started offering a wide variety of suspenders to retailers, and more than 2,000 now carry the product.
“Hardware stores carry the work suspenders, sporting goods stores carry the camouflage ones and tuxedo stores carry the dress ones,” Herman said. “These are not large department-type stores. These are, for the most part, owner-operator stores. The Kmarts and Wal-Marts won’t touch this. They tend to lean toward the lower-priced product.”
Herman’s suspenders, available on the Internet, too, typically sell for between $20 and $40, much more than the discount-store varieties that sell for $10 or less. But even at those prices, Herman expects sales to reach $1.5 million this year. “I started carrying them since I saw the line,” said Stewart Shifman, owner of Stewart’s Menswear in Waterford Township. “They answered a problem in the market.” Customers appreciate the guarantee, knowing that if the snaps break, they will be repaired, he said.