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AKA the sad cousin of Unnecessary Lacing. Previously, Trystan laid out just why and how unnecessary lacing in historical costumes is wrong and annoying. This time, I’m piling on with unnecessary straps, by which I mean “belts and buckles and ties and strappy bits that aren’t actually functional or, if they are, it’s a stretch, and honestly, come on, those are really just there to make the wearer look badass, aren’t they?”
A lot of this comes up in either menswear (especially military-type guys) and steampunk-influenced costumes. And I’m the wrong person to say how many belts one needs if one is soldiering, or whether those specific straps are necessary to one’s armor, because military stuff isn’t my thing. But when I look at historical images of soldiers, I do see some extraneous stuff that’s there to make them look fancy, but that’s usually “pretty” stuff like fabric sashes and bows and things, not multiple buckled leather belts:










And okay, obviously if you’re an upper-class guy, you’re going to have a page to help you put on your gear. But if you don’t, well, I hope you and your roommate have an hour free in the morning and evening to get you into and out of all those straps!
Let’s make fun of unnecessary straps on film, and menswear/military peeps, you can give me shit in the comments.
Unnecessary Straps: Randomly Steampunk
Let’s add some leather straps and buckles to totally inappropriate fashion-wear outfits to make our character look badass!








Unnecessary Straps: In Case You Missed These Are Military People
I mean, sure, buckles are quicker than lacing, more secure than pins or basting, and more accurate than zippers. I just hope these guys have a helper at the ready and have added in a good hour to get dressed and undressed!
















Got any good examples of unnecessary straps in frock flicks? Share ’em in the comments!
Keira Knightley’s fighting top in King Arthur (2004) was straps upon straps but nothing else.
I went to see it in theatres with friends when it came out and even as a bunch of preteens who were mostly there to look at all the cute guys in the cast, I remember us giggling over how ridiculous it was she was going into battle in what amounted to a strappy leather crop top (with bonus random leather strings) with her stomach fully exposed.
Running out of red arrows indeed!
In the, like, fourth picture, the one of Fernando of Austria: yes, the pistol holsters are attached to his saddle, not to him.
A lot of the images of soldiers: one strap over the shoulder to carry their ammunition box (same with the “bag” for the woman on the barricades—that “bag” is an ammo pouch). If there’s a strap over the opposite shoulder, it’s usually to support a sword or bayonet scabbard that sits on the opposite hip to their ammo box. Sometimes the second strap (or cord) is supporting a haversack, a bag soldiers carried food in, or a canteen for water.
The sashes worn by a lot of the figures in the 17th to early 18th century images are either to show their rank if they were officers (because there were no such things as uniforms to make that clear) or to show even just what army they were in because, again, no uniforms. Sashes for the latter were less common because handing those out to tens of thousands of soldiers was $$$. Usually armies wore what was called a “field sign”, maybe a piece of paper or some leaves stuck in your hatband. The compromise became a coloured ribbon to show what side you were on, sometimes made into a rosette called a cockade, which continued in use way after armies adopted uniforms, right into the 20th century.
And sometimes people are wearing belts under their coat. In the painting of John Campbell of the Bank, for instance, he’s wearing a wide baldric (almost certainly leather) to carry his broadsword as well as a belt that’s covered by his waistcoat, from which his sporran and his dirk are hanging.
It’s like pouches (and straps) in comics in the 90s. Ridiculous looking, overdone, and something we haven’t fully gotten away from. But apparently they looked cool?
Whoa, I’m going to be noticing this all the time now.
I LOVE IT when y’all bust out the red arrows!!!! It just makes everything so much more hilarious!!! That said, I LOVED The Three Musketeers TV with all its WTF-ishness!!