Men's fashion braces: how to wear them with a shirt

Braces are versatile: they can characterise an outfit by defining the style or go unobserved. Furthermore, they can have a practical purpose or be purely decorative. A certain familiarity as well as knowing a few tricks are required to wear the men's fashion braces.

Braces are cloth belts that hook onto the trousers, passing over the shoulders and crossing over in an X or Y at the back. There are two ways to attach them to trousers: with clips to be clipped onto the waistband or with “buttons”, eyelets that hook onto specific buttons on the trousers. The clips are easier to use but are unsuitable for elegant or formal outfits. No matter what the occasion, you can use the men's braces with buttons on trousers and you won’t run the risk of ruining the latter. The only downside: button braces cannot be used with every kind of trousers, only those with specific buttons. Lastly, remember you can use braces with clips on trousers with belt loops but never wear braces and a belt together.

Braces are often elasticated so the length can be adjusted. That said, there are different sizes (in width): wider ones are recommended for those who have a more developed chest while the slimmer ones are more suited to those with a fine frame.
The elastic fabric braces are the most common, practical ones, especially for those using them for the first time, but are also produced in grosgrain, jacquard, silk, leather, Oxford and synthetic fabrics.
Colour and pattern need to be considered when matching shirts and braces. Black braces are the simplest ones to match while brightly coloured ones can easily be matched with neutral colour shirts. Striped, polka-dot braces or ones with unusual patterns always add a casual style to an outfit and can be respectively matched with striped or polka-dot shirts or ones with the same pattern, as long as the motifs on the braces are larger than those on the shirt. Lastly, braces with a dinner jacket and black tie are essential as there is no belt that can be combined with an outfit of this kind. In this case, the braces are white or black in order to be as invisible as possible.

Wearing a shirt with braces means following fashion: before the XX century, this accessory was used by everyone because back then belts were regarded as decorative. Today, the opposite is true: many people wear a belt while braces have become a fashion accessory. Now that you have uncovered these secrets, you too can create a trendy outfit to wear with braces.