Talk:Garter

British English
There needs to be some clarification on British terminology. In British English, Braces are called suspenders in American English. Arm bands are called sleeve garters. A suspender belt is called a garter belt. Is any distinction of terminology made in American English between what are called "garters" and "suspenders" in British English? Basically the difference is that garters go around the leg below the top of the sock/stocking, whereas suspenders clip onto the top of the sock/stocking from above. Opera hat (talk) 15:13, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Garters are loops that pass around the leg. They would be worn above the knee by ladies, to hold up stockings, and under the knee by men and boys - e.g. when wearing shorts, breeches or a kilt, when decorative garter flashes may be allowed to hang down below the turned-over stocking top.
 * Suspenders in ladies' clothing are tabs which attach to the top of ladies' stockings, which are in turn attached to a suspender belt worn around the waist. In men's clothing, suspenders (also called sock suspenders) are elasticated loops worn around the calf, which attach to the top of men's socks.
 * Braces are worn over the shoulders and attach to the waistband of one's trousers.
 * Arm bands are expandable metal loops worn above the elbow to hold the shirt-cuff free of the wrist.


 * Well I can try to define the American terms which should help clarify the differences.
 * Garters refer to the same leg loop. They basically refer to any such loop even when not being used to hold up socks. The canonical example being the wedding garters. Sleeve garters are functionally similar garments for the arm, to hold up sleeves. Outside of Weddings, any use of the of garters of any kind are very rare. I've seen examples of people getting confused and calling the wedding garter a "garter belt", simply because the latter term is by far the most common usage of the word garter in the US.
 * Garter belts are underclothing belts intended to perform the same hose holding function as garters, by connecting to the stockings via garter straps (in context shorted to just straps).Variants include the garter panties (Combination of garter-belt and panties), garter skirts (a garter belt that is long enough that it takes on a skirt-like appearance).
 * Suspenders refers primarily to the over the shoulder items that hold up men's pants (trousers). Like most of the mentioned items, in these days of elastic they have become less common, no longer being needed. For fashion purposes they were replaced with belts, which remain common even though also frequently not actually needed.  Although the device for holding up pants are the most common, other similar devices could be called suspenders, such as an over the shoulder strap to hold up socks. I'm not personally aware of any such device.
 * I would be remiss if I did not mention shirt stays which are a device that holds down the bottom of a shirt. These are rarely seen outside of the military. One variety has loops through which the feet are placed. The other variety clip to the top of socks, and thus function as garter straps too.
 * Of course most people know so little about any of this that it all gets muddled. 76.243.42.111 (talk) 23:49, 17 February 2013 (UTC)

Men and garters
When my brother returned after graduating Marine Corps bootcamp, he pointed out the garters that were part of the dress blues. As far as I know, all marines wear garters while wearing their dress blues. I would assume the same for other military dress uniforms. This article is very female centered. 68.188.31.26 (talk) 18:20, 9 September 2008 (UTC)
 * What is this guy wearing on his knees? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Sackville_Earl_of_Dorset.jpg Are those a kind of garter? Do they have a particular name, or should I just call them "ludicrous garters"? 213.122.2.194 (talk) 12:27, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Oh, get a grip. Ugh, what other site than wiki would have a picture of the Order of the Garter and what is pretty clearly a man in a garter belt and panties masquerading as a woman? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.105.176.212 (talk) 04:04, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Change the first photo
I would strongly recommend that the first photo in this article should be replaced with something showing a model wearing mid-20th-century briefs ("granny panties"). This would provide a much more accurate historical illustration of how a garter belt was worn at that time: it was a very utilitarian part of most Western women's wardrobes — not by any means confined to the world of erotic strip-tease as is generally the case now — and "granny" (even in her younger days) almost certainly didn't own a thong and wouldn't have been caught dead wearing one. Richwales (talk) 06:05, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

Reference required
"Garters were ... a convenient way for ladies to carry small valuables, in place of a small purse."

Really? Doesn't sound very convenient - or modest - to have to lift your skirt up to get at something.

I think the image is not good evidence, by it's own caption she carries her flask there because it was prohibited and therefore a bit naughty and a bit secret. Hiding a flask in the Prohibition is not evidence that women everywhere carried valuables generally on their garters. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.108.239.97 (talk) 18:39, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

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Requested move 26 May 2019

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: Move. Cúchullain t/ c 13:38, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

Garter (stockings) → Garter – This seems like the clear WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. If we look at the other items in Garter (disambiguation): there is an Order of the Garter (whose emblem is this article's garter), a type of snake (which even in 1906 had "snake" as part of its name), and finally, the sleeve garter, which is really just a less popular subtopic of this article. Compared to the first two topics, this one has more prominent usage as well as long-term significance. While the Order article does have more pageviews, I don't see any indication that the order is ever referred to as "Garter" in isolation. Opencooper (talk) 05:07, 26 May 2019 (UTC)


 * Support - Makes sense to me. Presumably the current Garter page would be moved to Garter (disambiguation)? --John B123 (talk) 08:34, 26 May 2019 (UTC)


 * Support. Clear WP:PTOPIC, with everything else deriving its name from the item of clothing. The Order might be referred to as 'The Garter', but not just as 'Garter'. An other uses hatnote to Garter (disambiguation) will be needed. Narky Blert (talk) 15:35, 26 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Support per nom. Colin M (talk) 15:42, 27 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Support as majority says. Barca (talk) 14:13, 5 June 2019 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Order of the Garter
The information provided on the Order of the Garter section contains much that is simply speculation and unhistorical. The claim that it is "more likely" to originate in military use is completely unsubstantiated and finds no clear origin in the historical record to my knowledge (or at least as much as the story of the Countess of Salisbury). This part of the section should probably just be deleted or they should both be referenced as stories originating long after the order was actually formed. 82.17.10.32 (talk) 17:55, 19 January 2024 (UTC)