Garters in fashion
A garter is often worn by newlywed [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride"]brides[/ame]. It is the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridegroom"]groom[/ame]'s privilege to remove the garter and toss it to the male guests. The symbolism to [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin"]deflowering[/ame] is unambiguous. Historically, this tradition also relates to the belief that taking an article of the bride's clothing would bring good luck. As this often resulted in the destruction of the bride's dress, the tradition arose for the bride to toss articles of clothing to the guests, including the garter. Another superstition that has circulated is the male equivalent of the bride throwing her bouquet to the unmarried ladies, i.e., the unmarried male wedding guest who successfully caught the garter was believed to be the next man to be headed to the altar from the group of single men at that wedding. Traditionally, the man who caught the garter and the lady who caught the bouquet will share the next dance.
[1]
At some American high schools, it is traditional for girls to wear garters to their prom. At the end of the evening, her partner removes the garter and keeps it as a souvenir. In some cases, the girls exchange their garters for their partners' bow ties.[
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"]citation needed[/ame]]
In [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan"]Elizabethan[/ame] fashions, men wore garters with their
hose, and colorful garters were an object of display. In [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare"]Shakespeare[/ame]'s
Twelfth Night, "cross braced" garters are an object of some derision. In male fashion, a type of garter for holding up socks has continued as a part of male dress up to the present (although its use may be considered somewhat stodgy).
