Besides holding our pants up, belts can be an essential fashion accessory that puts the finishing touch on an outfit. While we don’t have to wear a belt with every outfit, there are times when it is expected, like whenever we have our shirts tucked in.

First and foremost our belts are accessories. Our belts can be flashy or understated, but they shouldn’t be the center piece of our outfits. The belt should serve to accentuate another part of our outfit, personality, or physique. Since the belt divides the two halves of our bodies, a flashy or contrasting belt can serve to psychologically shorten our appearance to others while a neutral belt that blends in will make us appear slightly taller.

The most basic rule of wearing a belt is to match it with our shoes. That is, the material, texture, and color should all be in accord. If we’re wearing shiny, black leather shoes, our belt should be shiny, black leather as well. There’s a bit more leeway with brown leather shoes since there are so many shades and tints of brown but in general we want to get as close as possible to the same color and texture. If we’re not wearing leather shoes the rules tend to be a bit more relaxed but we still need to exercise some degree of coordination.

Continue reading “Belts: Beginning to Bring an Outfit Together”