Sleeve garter

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A sleeve garter is a garter worn on the sleeve of a shirt. It came into wide use in the latter half of the 19th century when men's ready made shirts came in a single (extra long) sleeve length. Sleeve garters allowed men to customize sleeve lengths and keep their cuffs from becoming soiled while working.^[1]

Sleeve garters were also sometimes worn by women and at least one company still sells women's sleeve garters (fashioned of a mesh with faux pearls) for general use.^[2]

1 Use
2 References

[edit] Use

While a century ago this item of clothing was once something a man may have worn regardless of profession (with the possible exception of the wealthy or those too well-dressed to wear non-tailored shirts), today sleeve garters are usually seen in relation to one of the following contexts:

[edit] Music

According to jazz historian Al Rose, the popular image of an early 1900s saloon pianist being flashily dressed with arm garters was inspired by the way Tony Jackson used to dress while performing.^[3]

The Dapper Dans, a barbershop quartet at Disneyworld, wearing sleeve garters.

While this explanation is not entirely implausible, it can be noted that sleeve garters are still worn not only by pianists who play ragtime and other turn of 20th the century American music, but also by Dixieland banjo players and many other types of musicians who perform music of that general period.

It should also be noted that while there could be utility in keeping one's sleeves restrained while playing a musical instrument, sleeve garters are also very much a part of the costume of Barbershop music performance, an activity for which unimpeded manual dexterity does not play a vital role.

Therefore, the association between sleeve garters and the performance of turn of the century music may have more to do with evoking the fashion of the era than with utility or a tradition begun at any specific time.

For example, at the 2007 NAACP Image Awards, each dancer in the opening number wore a red sleeve garter on his right arm and a matching red vest. At one point, some of the dancers used a cane as a prop. Together, these accoutrements seem positioned to evoke recollection of the past.

[edit] Gambling

Today, sleeve garters are part of the costume of poker dealers and other card dealers in casinos. While this is widely understood to make it more difficult for the dealer to cheat by concealing a card in his or her sleeve, note that the sleeve garter is usually accompanied by a vest and bow tie (and sometimes a visor) suggesting that this usage may too harken back to late 19th century and early 20th century fashion at least as much as it serves a real purpose.^[4]

[edit] Old West

The sleeve garter is often seen in modern depictions of the Old West, not only on musicians and gamblers but on the stereotypical well-dressed gunslinger. In this case, the suggestion may be that the sleeve garter facilitates freedom of movement and aids in gunslingers' ability to quick draw.^[5]

Today, the sleeve garter sometiems accessorizes the costumes of rodeo participants. A small ornamental plate called a "concho", typically depicting an Old West motif, may be attached to the garter.^[6]

[edit] Bookkeeping

"Day Dreaming Bookeeper', Norman Rockwell's 1924 illustration, shows an accountant wearing a vest, a visor, a bowtie and very narrow sleeve garters. While the fellow is probably meant to be seen as old-fashioned in his dress, the presence of sleeve garters in this picture may indicate that men who worked with papers and ink sometimes wore sleeve garters up until the second quarter of the 20th century.^[7]

Whether because of this or solely because of the iconic quality of Rockwell's work, office workers in early 20th century settings are sometimes depicted with this same costume (visor, vest, bow tie, sleeve garters) that is basically the same as the stereotypical card dealer costume.

[edit] "Old Timeyness"

Sleeve garters often appear in images representing "Old Timeyness" and can be seen in such varied pop culture depictions of it as A&W Root Beer advertisements and segments on cartoons such as The Simpsons.