I’m new to retro underwear, where should I start? – Part 2 – Suspender Belts

I remember my very first suspender belt well. It was black (of course), made predominantly of lace, it had four very thin suspender straps and small gold coloured clips covered by ribbons.

It looked something like this:

While I was wearing this suspender belt, I spent a lot of time pulling up my stockings and the belt itself. It became quite frustrating to tell you the truth. I eventually gave up on this belt, and all other suspender belts until a few years ago.

As an ex-wearer of this style, I completely understand why women wear these suspender belts; if you are not in the know, it seems as though that is the only style available. It is near impossible to find a decent suspender belt in high street lingerie stores, and popular brands such as Victoria’s Secret are constantly shoved in our faces. Since the invention of tights or pantyhose, many women believe that stockings and suspender belts merely exist to be worn in the bedroom, only to be worn for very short periods of time. As such, most designs are flimsy and will not hold stockings up for very long at all.

When I buy a suspender belt, I always bear the following points in mind:

A suspender belt should have a MINIMUM of six straps and clips
Suspender clips should be made of metal, fabric backs/ tabs are a bonus

Strap width should be between 2 and 3 centimetres wide
The top of a suspender belt should sit on the natural waist, and not the hip

The belt part of the suspender belt should be deep, by this I mean that it should cover from the waist down to at least the top of the pubic area

Each strap should have a regulator, which will allow the wearer to lengthen or shorten the straps as required
Although the main objective of suspender belts is not to provide shaping and control of the area it covers, it is still recommended to have some structure. Several panels of fabric will make the garment stronger and smooth your abdomen out a little
The garment should not have spaces in the belt section, as this will create unsightly bulges of skin. This item for example would not be flattering on my body:

The below brands sell good suspender belts that I would happily wear and recommend.

Riwaa Nerona

Violet purple suspender belt

What Katie Did

Green Liz suspender belt

Maitresse Nouveau suspender belt

Satine suspender belt

Touchable

Victoria

Reveal

Midnight

Stockings HQ

Cleopatra Capri 6-strap suspender belt

Cleopatra Rhodos 6-strap suspender belt

Stockings HQ black/grey/white floral powermesh 6-strap suspender belt

Secrets in Lace

Ruffle Trim Garter Belt

Jennifer Garter Belt

Leopard Garter Belt

Coco’s Retro Closet

Deep V style garter belt wide suspender belt

Red lace retro garter belt

Lace suspender belt

Nylonz

8 strap suspender belts

Cervin

Porte-jarretelles plumetis Cervin

Suspender belt vintage Chenonceau

Suspender belt Boetie

Nylon Dreamz

8, 10 and 12 strap suspender belts

Axfords

B126 Suspender Belt

Elinor

12 thoughts on “I’m new to retro underwear, where should I start? – Part 2 – Suspender Belts”

Great information for any beginner wearing a garter belt, I’m sure this will be helpful to many of your readers. Particularly liked the belts from Stockings HQ – beautiful! Thanks for the post.

I just purchased the Liz from WKD and wore it for the first time this past week but my stockings dug into my legs so much, it was uncomfortable. Does this mean I should size up in my stockings? The foot and length was perfect, so I’m unsure if I need to find stockings with a more flexible welt, or a suspender belt that elongates perhaps so it doesn’t dig in in the middle of my muscle. Any advice?

Thank you so much!

I’m quite new to garter belts, and am currently wearing a WKD six strap as my usual go-to. But you’ve just made me list a whole heap of other ones that I now want to buy! Thanks for a great article.

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This is sort of a strange question but usually when I do garter belts I wear my undies on top so they’re easily removable. I’m going to get my first 6 strap and make sure it covers from waist to hip, but my question is could I wear undies over them? i read awhile back that you just pull the belt down or unhook it so I get it if you’re unsure. Thanks!