Tips to pick and wear a belt

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The belt is often the most important accessory in a look. Even if you don’t necessarily notice it, it is a fundamental element in the harmony of any outfit. Besides, not wearing it would constitute a lack of balance because it delimits the silhouette. The main thing is to keep the right measure with regard to the color of your belt, namely in the same tones as the clothes you wear or straightforwardly, then be careful to choose the characteristics compared to its morphology (all types of buckles, all widths of belts do not suit everyone, there is a balance to be respected). Gentlemen, here are some tips to help you choose your future favorite belt.

Style

The Formal

The formal belt for men is the one that you usually wear with your costume. It is slim, smooth, minimalist and made of leather. It absolutely has to go with the outfit you wear, to be elegant. The formal belt does not attract attention, it just matches a color of your outfit in a discreet way. Its stylistic role is all the more discretion in dark outfits than creating contrast in colorful outfits.

In more concrete terms, like that of your tie is too close visually, choosing a similar color would draw the eye to your chest. For maximum discretion and to avoid lack of taste, it is common knowledge that the least risky choice of belt is that of the color of the shoes because it distributes the contrasting touches regularly on your body. We would also tend to advise that if you wear a black suit, the best is to opt for a silver buckle, the gold would be too conspicuous. Also in the same case, we will not wear brown shoes with a black suit, nor brown belt.

You can also wear a formal belt with jeans depending on the outfit you choose. As you can see, we are talking about an elegant context, one where you take your lover to the restaurant and you put on your best blazer and white shirt in addition to your jeans. Here too, we will prefer to tune the belt to the shoes.

The casual

The casual belt is one that can be worn for all occasions that do not require dressing up. Being wider than a formal belt, it could not go without suit pants because it would detract from the necessary elegance of this outfit. So you should wear it with chinos, jeans and always try to choose it according to the color of the shoes you wear. If they are light, you could opt for a camel tone, if they are dark, a dark brown or black. In the case of a pair of sneakers with multiple colors, you can try to match with one of them. Finally, this is not necessarily a rule to generalize, but a clear belt in a dark outfit should be avoided because it would create a visually disturbing contrast.

There is no real rule for casual belts. Just avoid choosing models with too far-fetched details to avoid taking risks. Prefer simple, plain with a square or rounded loop, preferably without large advertising logo and in classic colors (black, brown, cognac, burgundy, navy).

The jeans belt

The jeans belt is the one that normally fills the place of the loops at the waist of your jeans. Normally, there is a lot of space because the models for jeans are wider. This is due to practical reasons, so that the miners who used the first jeans did not lose their pants, that it is held effectively (yeah, in short it is the role of any belt except that they had a longer eventful life which therefore required more maintenance at this level). The jeans belt is essentially made of leather. Here again, make sure to match it as much as possible with the color of your shoes. As for the color of the buckle, it is according to your preference.

The jeans belt is no longer worn with jeans. Many models of chinos typed “workwear” are provided with very wide loops allowing to pass a belt of the same ilk.

The braided belt

Braided belt models have been an essential of the male wardrobe for a few years now. There are in leather; adding a touch of originality without necessarily making concessions on the elegance of an outfit, and in fabrics, allowing very nice color variations for the warm season and more cheerful outfits.

The ring belt

These are the belts where one of the two ends of which ends with rings. The one your grandfather wore when you were little. He bought you the same one at the market, but you could never tie it, damn system, they look like key chains even! More seriously, ring belts were still an exception 2 years ago, but they are coming back. Worn on a colorful chinos when the beautiful days are there, it is a plus of assured style.