Vintage British-Made Men's Braces and Suspenders — Voted by the Community

Braces came into fashion in Britain in the late eighteenth century; the V&A dates their popularity from 1787. Early braces were pairs of straps, often of silk, cotton, canvas or velvet with leather attachments, that crossed over the shoulders and fastened to buttons on the trousers. In the 1820s the London haberdasher Albert Thurston helped popularise braces in the form most people know today. For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, men's trousers were cut high at the waist, which made a belt impractical, so braces were the usual way to hold trousers up. Belts gained ground during and after the First World War, when many men had grown used to them in uniform. In Britain, though, braces stayed the norm with suits and dress trousers. Braces remain closely tied to British tailoring and are still worn with suits, formal dress and high-waisted trousers. The Albert Thurston name continues today on braces made in England.