Objects have a story: how suspenders were popularized by the "Sans-Culottes"

If, today, men, who adopt suspenders to fasten their pants, most often display them proudly, in the past, they were worn very discreetly under the waistcoat or jacket. We are in the 16th century, in France, under the reign of Henri III. Men are used to wearing breeches (long fabric or knit stockings covering the entire leg) which, at the time, were an important element of male clothing. Since synthetic fibers (mainly spandex) were unknown at the time, the breeches were not stretchy and they had no elasticity. It was therefore necessary to tie them so that they did not fall on the calves. The problem was solved thanks to ribbons attached to the shoes. This is how suspenders were born...

Suspenders became popular during the French Revolution of 1789. The men of the people adopt suspenders, under their waistcoat or clearly visible, to fasten their trousers. They were called the “sans-culottes” because they had abandoned the culottes (short pants tight at the knees) of the aristocrats for the pants that completely covered the legs as we know them today. The workers wear cloth suspenders over their clothes, the bourgeois gradually abandon the breeches in turn and adopt the fashion with leather suspenders.

In 1826, in Rouen, a French city where the manufacture of suspenders was a very big business at the time, a certain Charles Anthéaume invented elastic suspenders, a real little revolution because they adapted more easily to the body.

A century later, the use of suspenders began to decline around 1920 with the appearance of belt loops that made it easier to wear suspenderless pants. The uniform of the soldiers of the First World War played an important role in this innovation. Suspenders then experienced a long crossing of the desert until the 1980s when the punk movement brought them back into fashion as a provocation. Since 2010, even though the majority of men prefer to wear belts, suspenders have come back into fashion, mainly in chic circles. Some women have adopted the fashion of suspenders but the phenomenon remains marginal.

For some, suspenders are a true symbol of their personality. We think, in particular, of the famous American journalist and television and radio host, Larry King, who died last January at the age of 87. After a significant weight loss in 1987 following a heart operation, he decided not to part with his famous suspenders, especially in the talk show he hosted for 25 years on CNN. He claimed to have a collection of 150 pairs of suspenders…