Suspender buttons are sewn onto the inner or outer side of the waistband and function to anchor suspenders. Most suspenders have two straps attached on either side in the front of the waistband and one strap attached on the center of the back of the waistband.
The suspenders are equipped with button holes at the ends of the straps that allow the user to easily attach them to the pants. Suspenders are particularly practical with high cut or loose fitting jeans.
When jeans were first introduced suspenders, along with the back cinch strap, were the only option you had for holding up your trousers. After World War I, men had become accustomed to military belts and the use of suspenders started to decline.
Suspenders were considered as underwear and it didn’t help much that men at the same time started wearing their jackets and waistcoats less frequently, and thus detailed part of their underwear to the public.
Nevertheless, suspender buttons were a basic feature of Levi’s jeans until they were finally fully replaced by belt loops in the late 1930s. Still, retailers stocked and supplied “press on” buttons for customers who preferred suspenders to a belt.