Suspenders. The fresh accessory

Freestyle to jeans and duty under the dinner jacket

If the height of the waistband climbs, the heel of the suspenders increases. Good thing, because suspenders bring color into life in a charming way.

Suspenders were never out and are trend again

Suspenders are the ideal accessory to play with colors when the jacket is taken off or left in the closet.

A shirt, whose subtleties are almost lost on the small screen of video conferences, gets a fresh kick with smart suspenders.

Late night at the roulette table

Of course, Daniel Craig appears as Her Majesty’s agent in the film Casino Royal for the decisive poker game in the Montenegro casino wearing a dinner jacket. Lyn Vesper, GloriousMe readers are probably thinking of the martini cocktail version Vesper at this point, had the dinner jacket made for him.

As he appears to triumph over his rival in the poker game, he removes his jacket and the suspenders he wears underneath can be seen.

In this case, it’s white suspenders made of moiré silk, from traditional men’s outfitter (and film sponsor) the house of Gieves & Hawkes on London’s Saville Row.

From Savile Row to the fashion trend store

Suspenders are universal. You can get them at just about every tailor on Savile Row in London, including Gieves & Hawkes.

Gieves & Hawkes is a premier address for custom military uniform design and can boast as many as three Royal Warrants. Her Majesty, the Queen of England, and the Prince of Wales also traditionally obtain their parade and gala uniforms from the house of Gieves & Hawkes.

The opening page of Gieves & Hawkes‘ home page this week features a mourning tribute to the late Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who was a client of the house for many years.

Those who supply the English royal family are allowed to show this with a Royal Warrant, the coat of arms for royal court suppliers. Gieves & Hawkes has held this distinction since 1809. Traditional, yes, but by no means dusty.

However, suspenders can also be found in many fashion trend stores, because as soon as the waistband is worn higher up again, suspenders also find more lovers again. Also in California.

They were never out, because they belong to the elegant dinner jacket, the black or, even more exclusive, the elegant white dinner jacket. For the latter, the suspenders should be chosen in white color.

With the black Tuxedo, the suspenders can be worn in white or black color. Suspenders in interesting contrasting color like a burnt orange, a dark green or a deep dark red combine tradition with fashion.

How you like it

Suspenders are available, depending on your taste, to button (you get the buttons with most suppliers and any alteration tailor can anchor the buttons to your waistband) or with metal buckles that attach directly to the waistband.

James Bond wears his white suspenders with brass suspenders clips from Albert Thurston, the most famous supplier of suspenders, who has been running his suspenders business in London since 1840. The homepage, worth seeing English-eccentric, says: “Worn by Kings, Presidents, Princes, Ministers, Business Stars, Film Stars”.

Annie Lennox, the charismatic singer of the Eurythmics was often seen wearing suspenders during her performances, Patti Smith wears them just like Götz Alsmann. When movie lovers think of suspenders, Michael Douglas in his role as Gordon Gekko in the movie Wallstreet usually comes to mind.

FIONA BENNET

Even if suspenders have a rather Anglophile image, that is deceptive. At the most famous address for shirts in Paris, Charvet on Place Vendôme, suspenders are offered in many colors and fabric qualities

Tone on tone – better not

Suspenders also go well with jeans, as long as the pants do not have a low cut. If you want to wear it more formally, with a bow tie or tie, the same applies as for the pocket square: the greater the contrast with the color of the tie or bow tie, the better.

For the summer, suspenders are also available in light linen fabric. Wonderfully combined with a white shirt, a sun hat and subtle summer tan. A nice gift.

Next time you’re sitting outside your favorite coffee shop, pay attention. There’s a good chance your neighbor will be wearing tweed fabric suspenders with their stylish retro-look horn-rimmed glasses.

For understandable reasons, we are even more British than usual this week. So, finally, a tip for after the pandemic: In the UK, suspenders are called Braces. In the United States of America, this is understood to mean braces. There, the correct name for suspenders is Suspenders.

Photographs © GloriousMe | Suspenders by Albert Thurston seen at Diehl&Diehl “Schuhwerk und Garderobe” in Frankfurt am Main