I tend to wear braces when on business, I used to work at lloyds in London and just adopted that dress code, I was only there a few months but loved the look.

Im wearing a red pair today that I bought in tie rack about 2 years ago. I wear braces with a two piece suit but since I am unlikely to remove my waistcoat at work would rairly wear them with a three piece suit.

I also wear sock suspenders.

 

sometimes

with some suits; I leave them on and they show up in the rotation. I think I'm the only one in my MN stock broker office.
M

 

Only wear them with my dinner jacket.

 

Braces are always an appropriate business-wear option, and are always in "style" even if not in "fashion." In my experience investment bankers are a little more taken with fashion than lawyers, who tend to be a bit more conservative and indifferent to fashion whims, though perhaps not so much as commercial bankers. During the mid 1980s through the early or mid 1990s braces were very popular at investment banking houses, and somewhat popular at the major law firms. Now they are no longer hot fashion items, and accordingly not as popular at major investment banking and law firms, but I do agree that lawyers who like braces (and I'm one of them) are probably a bit more immune to caring about current fashion than investment bankers. Conservative commercial bankers were not that big on braces even during their hey day, and I think it is unusual to see such a banker in braces today.

The bottom line is that, currently, braces are probably more commonly worn by lawyers than either investment bankers or commercial bankers, at least in the USA.

All that said, I almost always wear braces with tailored (i.e., dress) trousers, which really do look better hung from firm shoulders rather than from a shifting waist.

 

I tend to wear braces when on business, I used to work at lloyds in London and just adopted that dress code, I was only there a few months but loved the look.

Im wearing a red pair today that I bought in tie rack about 2 years ago. I wear braces with a two piece suit but since I am unlikely to remove my waistcoat at work would rairly wear them with a three piece suit.

I also wear sock suspenders.

Actually,a 3 piece suit should be worn with braces . They remove the bulk of a belt from underneath the vest.

 

"Actually, a 3 piece suit should be worn with braces . They remove the bulk of a belt from underneath the vest."

I don't think Benjamin was in any way suggesting that braces are inappropriate for two piece suits, even though I suppose that the first sentence could be mis-read that way. I think the second sentence makes a valid observation and makes the meaning of the preceding sentence clear.

 

For investment-banking and sales&trading, I'd say save the braces until you are at least a VP if not a managing director.

same rule applies to contrasting collars and flashy cuff links.

 

I average about once a week in them.

 

For investment-banking and sales&trading, I'd say save the braces until you are at least a VP if not a managing director.

If you don't remove your jacket, how will people know your are wearing them? Besides, they serve a much more functional purpose than just adornment.

 

I like braces a lot, and do plan on wearing them to work this summer in a fairly conservative environment. However, I will stick to plain black or blue braces, simply because I am of the opinion that flashy ones are a bit of a status symbol in the workplace. Best to wait until later if there is any doubt as to how they will be precieved.

 

abc,

I think you are wise. Braces serve their purpose far more splendidly than belts, but in some quarters fancy braces may be perceived, rightly or wrongly, as displaying unearned confidence. Leather brown or black braces can be a useful option as well.

And while it is true that braces are not seen when the jacket stays on, the practice of keeping a jacket on while working in the office is moribund to say the least. A young fellow keeping his jacket on all day while working in his office would be considered far more peculiar in most professional environments than a young man wearing fancy braces sans jacket.

Very few people view braces as equivalent to underwear anymore. They are understood as simply alternatives to belts. Personally, I think this is a good thing. There are times when jacket removal is appropriate, even preferred; and it seems rather senseless for this option to be available only to those unfortunate souls who wear belts. I do realize that I am probably in the minority on this point, at least in these fine fora, but I'm ok with that.

Cheers!

 

"Actually, a 3 piece suit should be worn with braces . They remove the bulk of a belt from underneath the vest."

I don't think Benjamin was in any way suggesting that braces are inappropriate for two piece suits, even though I suppose that the first sentence could be mis-read that way. I think the second sentence makes a valid observation and makes the meaning of the preceding sentence clear.

You are correct about my sentiments. Braces look great in whatever application. The only issue with wearing them under a vest is that no one can see them.

 

The only time I don't wear braces (or suspenders, as we call them here in the US) with a suit is when I have just lost a suspender button (a rare occurence, to be sure, but it happened to me just this week) and don't readily have a spare, or lack the time to replace it. Otherwise, I always wear them simply because the trousers hang so much better with suspenders than with a belt. I tend to keep my jacket on, but I don't work in an office so it's rather a moot issue. I spend time, effort and money in fair proportion on my clothing, so why not have them look their absolute best?

 

I'm with you, rip. Suspenders are great.

 

Around here it is mostly lawyers that wear suspenders. Of course, the only classes of folks left wearing suits here are lawyers and bankers. I expect the bankers don't see suspenders as projecting a conservative image - perhaps they view suspenders as a bit too flashy.

I too wear them about once or twice a week, and I find them more comfortable than a belt. I haven't gotten around to having buttons sewn in all my suits, and anyway I like variety.

I may come to regret this comment, but it seems as though fellows with ample waistlines are more frequently suspender wearers than their undernourished brethren...

 

"I may come to regret this comment, but it seems as though fellows with ample waistlines are more frequently suspender wearers than their undernourished brethren..."

I agree with you, Tom, though I honestly don't know why that should be the case. I'm on the tall and slender side (though admittedly not as slender as my youth) and find suspenders far more comfortable.

 

Very interesting thread.

I had buttons for braces sewn into my last suit, though I have not yet picked up a pair.

Are there rules for matching/contrasting colors with braces? What looks good/bad and is there a universal like black, or???

At the mens wear stores here there are only clip on braces. The 'high end' braces have a button loop that attaches to the clip. Nothing I'm interested in anyway.

 

For investment-banking and sales&trading, I'd say save the braces until you are at least a VP if not a managing director.

same rule applies to contrasting collars and flashy cuff links.

Very different dress codes for banking and sales/trading. A small but measurable percentage of bankers (and lawyers doing deal work) wear braces. You'd be lucky to see someone wearing a tie, let alone braces, on a trading floor - maybe the head of trading and a few other management types, but you don't see ties that often.

 

Who wears braces

I wear with both suits and blazars with tie

 

I wear braces every time I put on a suit unless I lose a button. For what it is worth, braces are attached to the buttons in your trousers. Suspenders are clipped to your pants.

 

I wear with both suits and blazars with tie

Oh, my! French front! Spread Collar! Nooooooooo......... Not on the Trad Forum!

 

I agree, but I am the 1 in 100. Not many guys in my firm wear them at all, but I love them. Title may play a role, but Im an SVP so I really dont care. Some may say you must keep your jacket in, but NO ONE in my firm works with a jacket, nor have I ever seen a Wall St firm where people do.

 

Very different dress codes for banking and sales/trading. A small but measurable percentage of bankers (and lawyers doing deal work) wear braces. You'd be lucky to see someone wearing a tie, let alone braces, on a trading floor - maybe the head of trading and a few other management types, but you don't see ties that often.

Every single member of our trading floor wears a tie. Every single one.

 

No, but I do have a pair of Albert Thurston sleave braces. Do they count?

 

Wearing braces and nomenclature

I was just directed to this thread by a friend. To the individual who stated that braces had button on paddle attachments and suspenders had clips, who told you that? This patently incorrect. The term brace originated in the UK and France (bretelle) and refers to a strap worn over the shoulders to hold up trousers. In the UK suspenders typically refer to sock garters. In N. America the term 'suspender' is used interchangeably with the British term 'brace,' whereas sock suspenders in the US are termed 'garters.' There is no distinction between whether braces have clips or paddle attachments to trouser buttons, though I wouldn't be caught dead with clip-ons. I'm guilty of owning over 300 pr. of braces/suspenders from all lines as early as President "suspenders" as the box calls them from the 1930s, often worn by Roosevelt (these resemble an execution contraption in their complexity), later models by Paris, Pioneer and Hickok, and now, Thurstons, Trafalgars, Cole-Haans, etc.

They of course make the trouser drape properly, and when fitted properly (e.g. shortened so that the buckles ride low on the torso, not near the nipples, with the back strap shortened to about 4", they are extremely comfortable an I wouldn't go a day without them be it with khaki slacks, dress slacks and a jacket, a suit or formal attire. I am hooked.

Gilles