Suspenders - Fashion

Fashion

While they have been in and out of fashion over the last century (alternating with belts in general preference), there has been a brief resurgence in interest due to the styles seen in period dramas such as the 2008 re-make of Brideshead Revisited.

Current wearers include actor Martin Shaw as his TV alter-ego Judge John Deed, and Daniel Craig — particularly as James Bond, 007. Many business people, newscasters (such as Larry King in the United States) and professionals such as lawyers also wear suspenders. John Barrowman playing Captain Jack Harkness in the TV show Torchwood often wears suspenders, as does Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who. The Simpsons character Lenny, one of Homer's friends, wears a blue pair over his green shirt. Steve Urkel from the 1990s family sitcom "Family Matters" wears a collection of suspenders in each episode he stars in. Louis Tomlinson from the band One Direction often wears suspenders.

Suspenders are also a typical part of skinhead, and to a lesser extent, punk fashion. In skinhead and punk fashion suspenders are typically between 3⁄₄ and 1 inch (1.9 and 2.5 cm) in width. To some skinheads the color and placement (either up around the shoulders or down around the waist) of braces may have political significance.

Materials used for making suspenders have also changed over time, with newer additions such as rayon, a hard-wearing synthetic fibre, now offered as well as the standard boxcloth (a fuzzy woollen cloth). Silk, though traditional, is not long-lasting.