Garter

A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking from slipping. The advent of elastic has made them less necessary from this functional standpoint, although they are still often worn for fashion. Garters have been widely worn by men and women, depending on fashion trends.

In Elizabethan fashions, men wore garters with their hose, and colourful garters were an object of display. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, "cross braced" garters (a long garter tied above and below the knee and crossed between), as worn by the character Malvolio, are an object of some derision. In male fashion for much of the 20th century a type of garter for holding up socks was used as a part of male dress; it is considered somewhat archaic now.

There is a Western wedding tradition for a bride to wear a garter to her wedding, to be removed towards the end of the reception by the groom. This garter is not normally used to support stockings. This practice is often interpreted as symbolic of deflowering, though some sources attribute its origin to a superstition that taking an article of the bride's clothing will bring good luck.^{[unreliable source?]} In the Middle Ages, the groomsmen would rush at the new bride to take her garters as a prize.

Today, the practice of removing the bride's garter is traditionally reserved for the groom, who will then toss the garter to the unmarried male guests. This is performed after the tossing of the bouquet, in which the bride tosses her bouquet over her shoulder to be caught by the unwed female guests. According to superstition, the lady who catches the bouquet and the man who catches the garter will be the next man and woman among those in attendance to be married (though not necessarily to each other).^{[unreliable source?]}

Prom garters were common in the 1960s and 1970s and often conferred on the date as a souvenir.^{[citation needed]} If the date received the garter, it was typically hung from his rear-view mirror.^{[citation needed]}

At least since the mid-2000s,^{[unreliable source?]} it has become common in US culture for young women attending a high school prom to wear a garter, usually designed to match the style and color of the young woman's dress.^{[citation needed]} The prom garter may be worn throughout the evening and is sometimes given to the young woman's date as a souvenir.^{[citation needed]} A young woman may also choose to keep the garter rather than give it away, as a token of her prom night.^{[citation needed]}

In some cases, young people may participate in a "garter and tie" dance (often hosted by the high school as part of the prom^{[citation needed]}), during or after which either the young woman herself or the young woman's date removes the garter and exchanges it for the date's tie.^{[citation needed]} The giving or taking of the prom garter may or may not have the same sexual implications that are associated with wedding garters; however, the giving of the prom garter is often interpreted as publicly designating the pair as a romantic couple.^{[citation needed]}

Suspenders or suspender belts, also known as "garter belts" in American English, are an undergarment consisting of an elasticated material strip usually at least 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) in width; it can be wider. Two or three elastic suspender slings are attached on each side, where the material is shaped to the contours of the body. The suspenders are typically clipped to stockings with metal clips into which a rubber disc is inserted through the stocking material effectively 'locking' the stocking in place. These are normally attached to a length of elastic allowing for adjustment.