Customarily, genuine Bavarian lederhosen have strong leather braces slung over the shoulders and often joined across the chests to keep them in place. The "chest panel" connecting the two shoulder braces is frequently embroidered with the name of the village from which the wearer comes surrounded by floral detail or, in the most elaborate models, with Alpine scenes. As such, the braces are an essential in traditional costume outfits and, for many, a pair of lederhosen without them is not really a pair of lederhosen. When worn as a fashion item, however, especially to the Munich Oktoberfest, lederhosen are increasingly being paired with belts instead of braces.
There are a few reasons for this. First off, lots of the current Bavarian fashion looks build on the leather shorts as their foundation piece, but draw in a range ofelements such as short-sleeved tops and trainers. The hallmark H-shaped brace straps, however, are intended to be worn with collar shirts, waistcoats, and jackets or blazers; but paired with t-shirts or other simple tops, they can look out of place - silly and childish, almost. Munich men, for instance, have taken to wearing their Bayern München strips with their lederhosen, and as well as looking somewhat ridiculous, braces and chest panels would detract from their team's insignia.
Secondly, it's about comfort inasmuch as, while lederhosen braces may be the best way to hold up leather breeches as they get wider and looser with wear, they can end up feeling constricting and may even chafe shoulders or nipples through thinner tops. What is more, even Bavarians sometimes have difficulty clambering in and out (especially back out after a session in the beer garden) and so often leave them off for, ahem, "informal days out", keeping the Full Monty in reserve for weddings and christenings.
In fact, on Munich's Theresienwiese and at other Fests, turning up in a checked shirt with braces is a sure-fire way to mark yourself out as a tourist, especially if you add the neckerchief sold with full sets of lederhosen, shirts, shoes, and socks. After all, it’s the privilege of locals to bend the rules they themselves once invented, and Munich residents have their ways of distancing themselves from the floods of other Germans and people from abroad during the Oktoberfest. It's not that they don't like the tourists, but they don't want to look like them. So if you want to blend in, try combining your lederhosen with a white shirt or Bavarian top -and ditching the braces.
The difficulty, of course, is that lederhosen get looser as they are worn - and were never meant to be worn too tight in any case. This means that you need to replace the over-shoulder suspenders with a truly solid belt to make sure your leather breeches stay put – and by "solid", we don't mean the shiny black leather belt you wear to the office or the trendy woven belt you have for your holiday shorts. It's best to go for a full on Bavarian belt made of the same leather as lederhosen: they are fittingly chunky and have big feature buckles that can match the manly bulk of your breeches.
If you already have a pair, we have a range of belts in various shades of leather, so you should be able to find a match; if you’re buying your lederhosen new, then we're responding to the change in style by offering shorts with a belt instead of braces: you can choose between a traditional cut which includes buttons for braces (should you decide to wear them at a later date) or a more radical, new style of lederhosen which dispense with the whole braces-and-bib front, replacing them with a belt and simple zip flies. Less traditional, sure, but still genuine leather - and perfect with a cool tee (or a Bayern Munich strip).
