Unbuckling the belt: A look into the history of suspenders | Arkansas Democrat Gazette (2024)

It has been more than a year since most of us newsroom drones started working from home.

Pandemic and all, you know.

Yes, I miss seeing my co-workers and munching on the giant, gooey honey buns from the snack-room vending machine, but there are advantages to working at home that cannot be denied.

Among those has been my liberation from the belt.

I am no Tom Ford or Virgil Abloh, and I realize I'm tiptoeing around in the territory of Lois Fenton, whose men's fashion column runs in this newspaper. But I do recognize there are certain fashion rules a man should abide by when dressing for office work. These include, for me at least, wearing a belt with a tucked-in shirt.

My general workday uniform back when we had to actually be in the newsroom was jeans or chinos and some sort of button-down shirt. In the winter, I'd wear a sweater over my button-down. Always holding my pants up was a belt, sometimes a brown leather one or a military-style, canvas one.

Beyond being a subtle fashion signifier, the belt serves a utilitarian purpose for me as well. Even my best-fitting khakis need help hanging onto my hips throughout the day, and no one wants to see me walking around hiking up my trousers.

The first thing I would do when I got home from work, however, was unleash the oppressive strap from around my waist. The relief was heavenly.

Nowadays, as a working homebody, things are more casual. I haven't quite devolved to sweatpants-and-flip-flops mode, but if I don't have to leave the house for an interview or meeting, then I'm most likely in jeans or chinos and a hoodie (I'm always cold).

And since I don't care if my pants are sagging in the privacy of my own abode, I never, ever, ever wear a belt. Ever.

Which got me to wondering: Why don't I wear suspenders?

Well, they do have a bit of an image problem. Suspenders conjure up pop-culture visions of Steve Urkel or Mork from Ork, oddball TV characters known for their affinity for suspenders. Gordon Gekko, the sleazy "greed is good" character played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 film "Wall Street" and Patrick Bateman, the well-dressed, unhinged serial killer from "American Psycho," were also known to sport suspenders.

And then there's that whole Paul Bunyan, lumberjack look.

But they can be cool, too, right? There are styles ranging from fresh-scrubbed prep to brash punk that incorporate suspenders. Larry King rocked them nightly on his talk show.

Belts have been cinched around waists since the Bronze Age, which started around 3300 B.C. and ended around 1200 B.C.

At first, they were mostly for toting tools and weapons. It wasn't until the early 19th century that men's pant waists fell a bit and belt loops were created.

Suspenders have been traced back to 18th-century France. They are also known as braces (suspenders, technically, are for holding up one's socks, but we'll continue using the term here in reference to pants). They were worn as undergarments; it wasn't until the early 20th century that they become outerwear.

In "How Did the Belt Win," a fascinating and informative 2015 episode of the Freakonomics podcast, fashion historian Chloe Chapin says the belt began to gain an edge over suspenders in the 1920s, when the end of World War I brought an influx of military-inspired fashion.

She also credits the stee*ze of the Duke of Windsor who, before abdicating the throne, was King Edward VIII. The Duke was a belt man and, like today's social media influencers and reality TV stars, his fashion choices spread across the land.

Belts also became symbols of accomplishment. Wrestlers and boxers are given championship belts, not suspenders, and martial artists earn belts as they move up in skill level.

Fashion designer Bruce Davis of Little Rock offers clothing and accessories for men and women through his company, 22nd Element. Davis was a student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2015 when he traded his belts for suspenders, wearing them with slacks, or even tapered jeans, for a tailored look.

"I was the dapper guy, and I decided that I'd rather deal with suspenders because they are way more comfortable than the belt. And the flow of the outfit was better for me. It's weird how a belt can basically sever the aesthetic of your fashion," he says.

A visit last month to Baumans, the upscale men's clothing store in Little Rock, revealed nary a pair of suspenders. There was a time, though, when "men would collect suspenders like they would ties," says former Baumans owner Wayne Ratcliff, who still works at the store.

And in the late '70s through the early '90s, suspenders had a rebirth as some men were wearing them for show, Ratcliff adds.

"There were a lot of different patterns and colors. It was more of a fashion statement or accessory than for actually holding up their pants. Everybody wore their pants tight and wore suspenders, and that defeats the purpose."

And don't get Ratcliff started on the gentleman who wears a belt with his suspenders.

"That is taboo," he says. "It is unnecessary and not right. Either wear one or the other."

In her review of the Netflix miniseries "Halston" for GQ magazine, Rachel Tashjian writes: "Fashion is about nothing but timing."

She was talking about fashion in the grander sense, but the thought applies on a micro level as well and suspenders definitely have their time, says Paul Rainwater of Q Clothier in Little Rock.

"The way I look at it, it depends on the garment," he says. "If it's a pair of jeans, I wear a belt. If it's casual khakis, I wear a belt. It just goes more with that look. In general, belts are more sporty or casual.

"But I do like suspenders, especially with a suit because it doesn't draw that horizontal line across your body. You're suspending your trousers from your shoulders, so it's a longer, more flattering look to not have a belt on."

Suspenders with dressier outfits tend to be more classic, he says.

Don't sleep on using a pair with jeans, though, says Frank Gibson of Frank Gibson Executive Clothiers of Little Rock. It just has to be done right, like with a smart button-down and Chelsea boots.

"I've been doing quite a bit of suspenders-type stuff with jeans for that country look," he says.

Like belts, it's good to match the suspenders with footwear.

"If your belt is black, your shoes need to be black," Gibson says. "With suspenders, I like to coordinate. If I have a brown leather suspender, I like a brown shoe or boot to go with it as well."

As men age, comfortable suspenders become a smarter option, Ratcliff says.

"The truth of the matter is suspenders are actually a better apparatus for men of a certain age. You lose your rear end, you lose your fat back there and your pants don't stay up as well because you're straight; there are no curves to hold anything."

Suspenders also allow a fella to wear his trousers looser and are a good choice for men with larger bellies.

From a purely functional standpoint, Rainwater says suspenders simply work better at holding pants up. "You're not trying to squish yourself down in the middle with a belt."

Suspenders "let the pant float. They don't have to be tight, and it gives you more comfort," Gibson says.

The best suspenders attach to buttons on the trousers, Rainwater says, though most pants don't come with those buttons. Other styles have clips that fasten to belt loops. The least desirable are suspenders that have clasps with metal teeth; these can tear the fabric of the trousers.

I've been wearing my stretchy black suspenders off and on for about a week now, and my feelings are mixed. They aren't quite as comfortable as I'd hoped, and I'm still not used to having straps across my shoulders.

I went the cheapest route, so mine have the metal teeth. These suspenders are 2 inches wide and, since I'm short and slim, they seem big on me. Wearing them with a white button-down, my torso looks like a half-drawn tic-tac-toe game.

They do, however, hold my pants up much better than my belts, and I could see myself wearing a thinner pair.

Maybe if my clothes actually fit me, though, I wouldn't have to worry about this stuff.

"If a pant fits properly, you don't even need a belt," Ratcliff says. "The belt is an ornamentation."

These days, Davis doesn't wear belts or suspenders, even with a tucked-in shirt. He opts for trousers with adjustable snaps or buttons.

"It's been working out for me," he says.

Look at Daniel Craig as the ever fashionable James Bond, Rainwater notes. His luxurious suits often use no belt or suspenders.

At Baumans, Ratcliff shows me a pair of Italian dress slacks made of wool. They have belt loops, but they also have a secret.

Hidden inside the waist is a drawstring.

Maybe there's hope for me yet.