Monday 25 April 2011

Brace yourself

You know when you don't hear anything mentioned of something for quite sometime then all of a sudden you hear lots about that one thing in one week? Well thats what last week was like for me and, wait for it, braces.
 Last week a friend tweeted that she had seen an old chap walking through south London with a pair of braces on and looking quite smart with it as well. Then on Thursday afternoon I met up with a couple of friends in Regents Park and one of them had button braces on the outside of her chino shorts and they looked rather swish. Finally last night we went to another friends BBQ and a mate of mine there mentioned he was going to have to dust off his braces for his morning suit for the royal wedding (we are all attending a royal wedding party not the actual royal wedding just to let you know).
Braces are a tricky thing to get used to but once you are used to them they make life so much easier. Most modern gents wear belts with suits, firstly the reason is to keep his trousers in the right place and the second reason is for aesthetics. Some guys like to match the belt colour with the shoe colour and then, if they are really into it, their watch strap. In my eyes belts are just not needed. First of all your trousers should be tailored to you therefore there is no room in them for a belt to pull in the excess material. Secondly a belt will only pinch the trousers into place, and then weigh them down with a buckle, whereas braces hang them in place (think about that one and then it will click).

How it should be done.




Granddad would approve.

Braces can be adjusted just as a belt can be and I always think a suit looks a lot cleaner with no belt loops but side adjusters, wether they be button or buckle, then a nice set of brace buttons on the inside of the trousers. Lovely.