Belts are an essential part of any wardrobe for both men and women, young or old. Belts can be low profile in appearance, or be used as a fashion statement.
What is the right belt?
Belts come in various styles. For men and women, the two standard types are business and jean. Business belts are smaller in width to fit through suit trouser loops. Jean belts are broader in width as jean belt loops are wider. Women may also have belts thinner in width for dress loops.
What is the right colour?
Typically the rule for belts is to match with the shoes. So if you’re wearing black shoes you will wear a black belt; if you’re wearing brown shoes you wear a brown belt.
When wearing blue trousers or jeans, you will usually wear a brown or tan shoe and brown or tan belt. But if wearing a black or grey trouser or jean, you wear a black shoe and a black belt.
For this reason you are best to have at least 4 different types of belts in your wardrobe.
1 x brown business belt;
1 x black business belt;
1 x brown jeans belt; and
1x black jeans belt.
What is the right length?
Belt lengths are measured from the tip of the buckle tongue to the belt end. So if you are a size 36″ in the waist, a size 36″ belt will be too short for you.
To correctly measure the correct length of a belt for you add another 6″ to allow for the belt to be buckled in. Also remember that when you put on a belt, the length is going to be another 1″ or more to account for the material width of what you are wearing. So wearing a pair of business trousers will add another 1″ to your waist circumference, while a pair of jeans may add more being a thicker material.
Buckles and fasteners
Buckles come in various styles. For some the buckle is just as important as the belt itself. You can have simple or vary elaborate belt buckles. For most belts, the buckle will be a simple silver or gold buckle. For others, they may want to have a more elaborate buckle such as a show or rodeo buckle.
When selecting a belt, you need to be clear on whether you will want the ability to remove or replace the buckle. Again, for many they only require the one buckle and so the ability to remove the buckle is not needed. So a rivet fastening is satisfactory. For others, suck as those who wear show or rodeo buckles, they want to have the ability to change their buckles. This will require a press stud or coach screw fastener that allows the buckle to be remove or replaced.
Belt Holes
Belts will usually need at least one hole to put the tongue of the buckle through. But it can be three or five holes, allowing room for an increase or decrease in your clothes or waist. You are best to select a belt where the size that fits you best is done up through the middle hole.
Belt Direction.
For most people, the direction a belt goes is not of consequence. But typically a mens belt is put through the belt loops anti clockwise, while a woman’s belt will be put on clockwise. This is similar to mens shirts having the buttons on the right and women on the left. But some belts will have patterns on them that will dictate which way the belt is put on.