Friday, August 23, 2002
On the media watch, GQ magazine's style guru scores one for the braces.
It's not just about Larry King and his omnipresent suspenders. It is about keeping the trousers in place with something unconventional and distinctive. Plus, as writer Katrina Szish claims, wrapping a strap (or belt) around the midsection cuts you in half and probably cuts off circulation.
They are, of course, old old school. During the French Revolution, gentlemen traded "knee breeches" for trousers and needed something to keep them up. Victorian women presented their fiances with hand-embroidered suspenders, designer Alan Flusser says. Gary Cooper carried them off nonchalantly in 1931.
GQ says there are rules: The material should be a sturdy box cloth. They require leather tabs and buttons. And above all, do not wear a belt.