I was looking at a photograph of my Great Grandfather whom I knew well. He was wearing his white shirt buttoned at the neck with sleeve garters and his vest. Looking at this picture I cannot remember a time when he wasn’t dressed in a similar fashion. He always wore suspenders as well. I know he wasn’t a gambler or in a Dixie Land band and didn’t sing in a barbershop quartet so why the sleeve garters ? A little research gave me my answer. In the early days of manufacturing,store bought shirts sleeves were made in one length only,long. The sleeve garters were to adjust the sleeve length. It was as simple as that. A good idea from the manufacturers standpoint. For years only the wealthy wore tailored shirts that didn’t require the use of these items. Sleeve garters were also commonly called mums. My Great Grandfather always seemed to have the same ones on but maybe not I’ll never know the answer to that question.

As to the vest,or waistcoat,as he would often call it I always figured it was just part of his suit. It was but had a function of its own besides being fashionable. It was to cover the suspenders ! Believe it or not suspenders were once considered underwear and not to be seen in polite company ! The common working man,being crass and uncouth.may expose his suspenders but a gentleman never did. Also it is not proper to wear suspenders and a belt. One or the other never both. Reading about the subject I discovered belts never really became the norm or popular until after WW1.