How to Choose the Best Leather Belt for your Outfit
So some helpful pointers for you in how to pick a real leather belt. A good quality full grain leather belt (its made from the full thickness of the skin rather than a shaved down version) is an investment piece and an essential accessory that will add subtle detail to your outfit. It’s a lovely item to own that will soften and improve over time, and will critically keep your trousers up!
How to Pick a Leather Belt
If you buy quality leather, you will have this belt for many years, so it is important that you get maximum wear from it, as well as it fitting through your trouser and jean belt loops. It is quite essential to get the best leather belt you can afford, you can tell substandard leather and it can be noticed easily on belts, shoes and bags, so if you invest in quality accessories, do be sure to pick a good quality of leather. Not all leather belts are made from real leather and a large number of high street belts are made of eco-leather or faux leather. These alternative materials will typically cost less than those made of genuine leather, so stick to 100% full-grain leathers if you can, it really will pay off in the long term.
Matching Your Belt and Your Outfit
Try to be sure your belt compliments your style, it needs to work with your clothes and not clash with what you are wearing. It is sensible to ensure that your belt stands out and compliments your clothing, and so do not choose the same colour as the clothes that you tend to wear as it will blend in and not be noticed.
Choosing the Right Belt Width
Body shape and length dictate what width of belt you are best to pick, and of course, depending on if you wish to wear your belt on a dress or on your jeans and trousers. If you are wearing it on a dress, wider waist belts are great for women with longer torsos because they help shorten their upper bodies and make them look more proportional. They are good for a dress that has no shape and will benefit from being cinched in at the waist.
If you are shorter in the waist (between your last rib and hip bone) a skinny belt (20mm width) can be a great addition, and will equally work on your jeans, lightweight trousers, skirts and shorts in the summer too, so multipurpose!
Choosing Your Belt Colour
We have found that people tend to fall into two colour groups, either they wear the blues/black and greys, or they wear the browns/tans/beige. If you are one of the first group I would suggest a grey, navy or black belt could be a good option, grey will work with most of this colour group and looks super smart on black as it stands out and makes a contribution to the outfit.
If you fall into the second group then tan is the top selling colour, as it will work with everything (and will equally cross over into the first colour group too) and also is useful in the summer on paler colours and white. Equally mink is a good seller, and these more neural mid colours can be far more effective, and more versatile than a black or dark brown belt.
Matching Your Belt with Your Outfit
The old saying of match your belt colour to your shoes can still apply, and is quite a conservative approach to how you dress. It is more essential to keep your belt and shoes in a similar colour tone, and they do not need to necessarily match. The other common option can be wearing a real stand out belt, so a belt in a bright colour, or animal print, that really jumps out and makes a statement. I suggest that unless you really like to blend in with what you wear, everyone should own an animal print belt (you do not need lots!) that will really take the focus off a pair of slightly worn jeans.. and equally a strong colour – bright pink/green/blue belts can be an excellent accessory when worn with complimentary clothing colours.
MEN’S BELTS – BE ADVENTUROUS!
When men tend to be quite conservative in their choice of belts (brown, black, tan) we do have some fantastic male customers who really use belts well, and transform their outfits but wearing really strong colours and prints. The introduction of the coloured Polo belt from Argentina many years ago was a big step for male belt choice, and great to see a much needed move away from boring belts!
Generally men have less chance than women to be expressive in their clothing, perhaps bright ties, socks, hankies are as exciting as it can get! So apply this to your belt and wear a python print or animal print with you jeans to make a statement, you can be sure that everyone will notice it!
Make Sure Your Belt Lasts – How to Care for Your Leather Belt
Full grain leather needs little care, generally, they have a finish applied that protects them from oils and similar substances. If you do drop something horrid onto your belt, sponge it with water and leave it to dry at room temperature. If it gets soaking wet in the rain, again leave it at room temperature – the complete disaster is to put it on or next to high heat, this will destroy the structure of the leather and it will then crack and split quickly.
Occasional application of a light saddle dressing onto the front surface of the belt will replenish the leather and provide a more consistent colour and look, leather will dry out over time and two or three coats of saddle soap or dressing can make a huge difference to the look.
Top Belt Tips
Get the right belt size; measure an existing belt from where the leather meets the buckle along to the hole you do it up onto most regularly. Men tend to require a belt size one up from their jean size – so 1 – 2” bigger than their jean waist size Make sure you can wear it on your highest and lowest rise of jeans and trousers, and on your waist if you wish to wear it with a dress.
Choose a belt that has a detachable buckle so that you can easily change the look with an everyday buckle, and a diamante for the evening, equally silver and gold buckles depending upon the colour of jewellery that you may wear. Also people can then buy you new buckles for Christmas! Buy the right width, it is maddening when you cannot put the belt onto some trousers as the loop is too tight – and a waist of your money if you cannot use it on everything. I would always advise to buy quality, and ensure that the size gives you a bit of scope to get fatter and thinner!
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