Introduction and a question regarding attire

[sal]

Hi all.
I just found this site about a week ago and have been reading every night.
A little about me...50yo professional. I like dressing up but am relegated to dockers and polo / dress shirt / tie for everyday work. I do travel to lecture and when I do I wear a suit. Also a Mason and wear suits for meetings etc. So I would say that I only wear a suit 3 times per month.

I just bought two new suits and would like to start wearing braces. How should the pants fit from a waist perspective? Any different than with a belt? I have to call the tailor tomorrow morning and ask for buttons to be placed. Do I need to go back and have the pants adjusted in the waist for a different measurement / fit? I did not tell the tailor that I was thinking of braces when he fit me.

Is all of this overkill for the amount of time I can wear these items.

Thanks for all your wisdom as I start this journey

 

[Shangas]

Hi Sal, welcome to the forum.

The difference in how your pants will fit on your body is the difference between belts & braces.

Belts work by cinching in the trousers and tightening them around your waist so that they don't fall. This generally means that they'll sit lower (hip-bones or below).

Braces work by holding onto your trousers and hanging them off the shoulders. Because there's more slack to work with here, that means that generally, braces haul your trousers further up so that the waistband is higher (above the hip-bones).

I doubt you'd need to get the waist adjusted, but if you adjusted the lengths of the trouser-legs by having them taken up, you might want to have the stitching taken out so that they're a bit longer, otherwise, when your braces are on, there's a chance that you'll be showing off too much sock down below.

Also I think the consensus is that button-on braces are better than clip-on braces. Button-ons just hook onto the buttons (which are best sewn INSIDE the trousers instead of outside) whereas clip-ons clip onto the fabric of your trousers themselves, and that can damage the cloth.