What Is a Garter Belt?
Definition
A garter belt is an undergarment worn around the waist with elastic straps that fasten to the tops of stockings to hold them up. In British English it is a suspender belt and its straps are suspenders, while in American English suspenders are the shoulder straps that hold up trousers, which the British call braces.
Key facts
- Also called
- Suspender belt (British English)
- Origin
- Unknown; suspender belts first introduced in 1906, according to an Image Leicestershire catalogue note; the name “garter belt” recorded by 1913
- Category
- Clothing
- Materials
- No standard; a documented 1935 example used satin lined with cotton, elastic side panels and two light front bones
- Key construction feature
- Elastic straps (suspenders in British English, garters in American English) that fasten to the top of each stocking
- Formality level
- Underwear, worn beneath clothing with stockings
- Peak popularity
- 1930s, according to an Image Leicestershire catalogue note
- Displaced by
- Pantyhose, first sold commercially in 1959
- Word origin
- “Garter” comes from the Old North French gartier, a band worn just above or below the knee, and has meant a fastening that keeps a stocking in place since the early 14th century; “garter belt” is recorded by 1913.
Where does the garter belt come from?
The garter belt is documented from the early 20th century. A catalogue note on a 1935 suspender belt in the Image Leicestershire archive says suspender belts were first introduced in 1906, and the Online Etymology Dictionary records the name “garter belt” by 1913. Long before the belt, stockings were held up by garters: ties or bands fastened around the leg.
Garters came first
The word is far older than the belt. Etymonline dates “garter”, meaning a tie or fastening that keeps a stocking in place, to the early 14th century. It comes from the Old North French gartier, a band worn just above or below the knee. The garter belt itself does not date from the 14th century; only the word garter does, and Etymonline records the belt’s name only by 1913.
A false start, then the 1930s
According to the same Image Leicestershire note, the first suspender belts of 1906 proved unpopular and were withdrawn. They were reintroduced in the late 1920s, sold very well, and reached their peak of popularity in the 1930s. The 1935 Avro design it describes stayed in production until the mid-1960s. This chronology rests on that single catalogue note.
Nylon stockings
The Hagley Museum and Library records a crowd waiting for nylon stockings to go on sale on 15 May 1940, and says that when nylons went on the market in 1940 they sold out in two days. They left the market in 1942 so that the material could go to the war effort, a shortage covered under 1940s wartime fashion. In 1953, as Smithsonian magazine puts it, a night out meant either squeezing into a girdle or slipping on a garter belt to hold up the nylons.
Pantyhose and the decline
Pantyhose ended the garter belt’s everyday role. Smithsonian magazine reports that Glen Raven Mills, then run by Allen Gant Sr., put the first commercial pantyhose on department store shelves in 1959. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) records that the North Carolina mill had created and patented its first tights, called PantiLegs, by 1959, and that Gant began experimenting after watching his pregnant wife struggle with her garter-belted stockings. Smithsonian credits the rise of the miniskirt in the mid-1960s with making pantyhose take hold.
What makes a garter belt a garter belt?
A garter belt has two working parts: a band worn around the waist, and elastic straps hanging from it that fasten to the top of each stocking. Its job is holding stockings up, and Smithsonian magazine sets “slipping on” a garter belt against “squeezing into” a girdle.
The transatlantic naming trap
The same garment has different names on each side of the Atlantic, and one of those names means something else entirely in the other country. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries give these equivalents:
| What it is | British English | American English |
|---|---|---|
| The belt that holds up stockings | suspender belt | garter belt |
| Each elastic strap fastened to a stocking top | suspender | garter |
| Shoulder straps that hold up trousers | braces | suspenders |
So “stockings and suspenders” in British English and “suspenders” in American English describe different things. When reading vintage catalogues or sizing charts, check which English they were written in.
Garter belt, garter and bridal garter
A garter in the oldest sense is a band worn around the leg that grips the stocking directly, with no waist belt involved. A garter belt hangs its straps from the waist instead. The decorative band some brides wear on one leg at a wedding is a garter in that band sense, not a garter belt. In American English the word garter also names the straps of a garter belt, which is why the three are easily mixed up.
What are the main types of garter belt?
There is no standard list of garter belt types; garter belts differ in how they fasten, how much structure they have, and what they are made of. The 1935 Avro suspender belt described by Image Leicestershire shows the variables to look at:
| Feature | In the 1935 Avro belt |
|---|---|
| Outer fabric and lining | Tea rose pink satin, lined with cotton |
| Fastening | Hooks at the side |
| Side panels | Elastic |
| Front | Two light bones |
| Straps | Four, each adjustable |
The name changes with the market, not the design: a suspender belt in a British shop and a garter belt in an American one can be the same garment.
How do you tell a well-made garter belt?
A well-made garter belt has elastic straps that spring back, adjusters that hold their place, and a waistband that stays flat when the straps pull on it. These are the checks to make in the hand, using the features documented on the 1935 Avro belt as a reference.
- Stretch each strap. A suspender is a piece of elastic (Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries). Pull it and let go: it should return to its length at once. A strap that stays long or feels crackly has perished elastic.
- Slide every adjuster. The Avro belt had four adjustable straps. Each adjuster should move under firm pressure and stay put once set; one that slides on its own will let the stocking drop during the day.
- Count the fasteners. Count the straps against the fasteners at their ends: every strap needs one, firmly stitched, before the belt can hold a pair of stockings evenly.
- Press the front. The Avro belt had two light bones at the front. Where a belt has boning, feel for each bone through the fabric and check that no bone tip is pushing through.
- Turn it inside out. The Avro belt’s satin was backed with a cotton lining, the layer that sits against the skin. Look for a lining that is stitched in flat rather than left loose, and for seams that are finished rather than fraying.
- Pull the side panels. Elastic side panels, as on the Avro belt, should give when pulled and recover fully, with no gaps or puckers in the stitching along their edges.
Decoration such as lace is no guide to construction. Judge the straps, adjusters and band first.
How do you wear a garter belt?
Fasten the belt around the waist, put on the stockings, then fasten each strap to the top of its stocking. A garter belt works only with stockings that have a free top edge to grip.
- Not with tights. Pantyhose join the stockings to a pair of pants (MoMA traces them to the practice of attaching stockings to underpants), so there is no stocking top for the straps to fasten to.
- Set the length. Adjust each strap so that the stocking is smooth and the strap pulls straight down, without slack and without dragging the band.
- Knickers last. Putting briefs or knickers on after the straps are fastened means they can come off without unfastening anything.
- Mind the hemline. Under a short or close-fitting skirt the strap fasteners can show as small bumps; sit down in front of a mirror before going out.
- Buying older pieces. When buying vintage fashion, stretch the straps and side panels before paying: elastic can perish with age even when the fabric looks sound.
Frequently asked questions
Is a suspender belt the same as a garter belt?
Yes. Suspender belt is the British English name and garter belt the American English name for the same undergarment, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The straps change name too: suspenders in Britain, garters in America. The confusion comes from the American word suspenders, which means the shoulder straps that hold up trousers, called braces in Britain.
Can you wear a garter belt with tights?
No, not in the usual way. A garter belt’s straps fasten to the top edge of a stocking, and tights or pantyhose have no such edge: MoMA traces pantyhose to the practice of attaching stockings to underpants. To wear a garter belt you need separate stockings, each with its own top for the straps to grip.
Why is it called a garter belt?
The name joins the belt to the garters hanging from it. In American English, garter means the elastic strap that fastens to a stocking top, the part the British call a suspender. The older meaning of garter, a band that keeps a stocking in place, goes back to the early 14th century, while the name garter belt is recorded by 1913, according to Etymonline.
When did people stop wearing garter belts every day?
Everyday use fell away after pantyhose arrived. Smithsonian magazine reports that Glen Raven Mills put the first commercial pantyhose on sale in 1959, and that the rise of the miniskirt in the mid-1960s made them take hold. An Image Leicestershire note says a popular 1935 suspender belt design stayed in production until the mid-1960s, which fits the same timeline.
Is a bridal garter a garter belt?
No. A bridal garter is a single decorative band worn around one leg, shaped like a garter in the word’s oldest sense: a band worn on the leg rather than straps hung from a belt. A garter belt is a different garment: a band around the waist with elastic straps that fasten to the tops of stockings. The two share a name but not a construction.
Sources
- garter (n.), Online Etymology Dictionary
- suspender belt, Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
- suspender, Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
- Avro suspender belt, 1935: Flower detail, Image Leicestershire
- The Nylon Craze: A Style Trend of the 1940s, Hagley Museum and Library (2024)
- 50 Years of Pantyhose, Smithsonian Magazine (2009)
- Pantyhose, Glen Raven, Inc. (594.2017), The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
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