Suspenders or belt?
In November 2019 I began wearing suspenders with my trousers for the first time since the 1990s. More than twenty years ago I tried suspenders as a novelty and liked them at first. But over time some of their drawbacks led me back to the simpler belt format of trouser control. However, in the summer and fall of 2019 I began having more and more problems with the belts I was wearing. They were old belts coming to the end of their utility. They began fraying and breaking on me. It’s a terrible thing to be out and about in the middle of the day when suddenly your belt breaks and your trousers fall down. I know. So, I began carrying an extra belt with me every day as an emergency back-up. But as the old belt disintegration quickened, I changed to carrying a more portable set of suspenders in case of mid-day pants emergency. That day finally came, and I was happy to put them on for the first time in two decades.
Suspenders feel very different from belts. Whereas belts are constricting, suspenders give what is at first an uncomfortable feeling of freedom of movement - almost like you’re not wearing any underwear, or something. Almost a feeling of nudity. A feeling that our pants are actually falling down rather than really being suspended. The feeling of trousers falling down led me to continually play with the shoulder straps and waist at first. I mean, I was often tugging and pulling at them. But was a mere adjustment illusion. After getting used to the feeling, and learning how to quickly and easily remove the straps to allow for quick and easy trouser lowering, I began to enjoy the suspenders.
For a long time it has bothered me to see men - usually old men - who wear both suspenders and a belt to keep their trousers up. It’s not that I thought that the two formats were exclusive, but that they were not complementary. I mean, if you are using one, then the other is unnecessary. I was angrily critical of it. However, after asking around a bit, I accept that there are some situations where both a belt and suspenders are recommendable - soldiers or emergency workers wearing heavy equipment belts, sports fishermen’s thing-length wading boots, etc. Not your everyday business attire, but specialty clothes.
I was surprised when some men told me, “Suspenders for formal, belt for casual.” I did not think that in this day and age many men would think of suspenders as formal attire, or would even make a distinction like that.