The most famous "garter" in English is the Order of the Garter, which traces its history to the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In the poem, Gawain accepts a garter from the wife of his host (while resisting her carnal temptations) to save his life and then wears it as a mark of shame for his moral failure and cowardice. King Arthur and his men proclaim it no shame and begin, themselves, to wear the garter to indicate their shared fate. At that point, however, the garter was a larger garment that was used as a foundation.

In Elizabethan fashions, men wore garters with their hose, and colorful garters were an object of display. In Shakespeare'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 is considered somewhat stodgy at present).

A garter is often worn by newlywed brides. It is the groom's privilege to remove the garter and toss it to the male guests. The symbolism to deflowering is unambiguous.

At some American high schools, it is traditional that girls wear garters to their prom. At the end of the evening, their date removes the garter and keeps it as a souvenir. In some cases, the girls exchange their garters for their dates' bow ties. The tradition of garters at proms seems especially prevalent in Chicagoland and surrounding midwestern cities.

From Wikipedia