A belt or no belt? Simple enough, right?
I’ve got five situations in this post, and if you get any of them wrong, you won’t look very smart.
Leathers Don’t Match
The first situation is when your leathers don’t match.
Men’s fashion fundamentally dictates that the leather of your belt and shoes match. The problem arises when you don’t have a belt that matches perfectly.
Should you choose not to wear the belt?
The first question you should consider is if you can wear the pants without a belt.
No matter what color that belt is, you should wear it if pants start to fall down.
Because nothing is more embarrassing than having your pants fall down in the middle of a speech or when you’re walking. Nobody wants to see you struggling with your pants.
So yeah, even if it’s not a perfect match, wear the belt. However, you want to look for something, so buying some close-matching belts is worthwhile.
Though it doesn’t have to be a perfect match, try to obtain something as close as possible.
If you are unable to find an identical match, try something that is in no way similar. For a more casual look, this is where you should go. Even if they don’t go together at all, an unusual mixture can work rather well.
This is where you learn to break the rule of leathers matching leathers.
Do Jeans Need a Belt?
Let’s speak about situation number two. Why do I need to wear a belt when my jeans fit me so well?
This is a really great question.
Even if your clothing has belt loops, you don’t always need to wear a belt if it fits properly. The important thing is that your pants fit properly.
Repeating what was said earlier, nobody wants to see your pants hanging.
Assuming that they have a great fit, at what point are you able to wear them without a belt, regardless of whether they are jeans or dress pants?
It basically comes down to the question of who will see this.
You do not need to wear a belt if you are wearing this as a suit with a jacket over it. Assuming that the trousers, once more, fit you properly. since no one will notice it.
Some guys prefer it since they may find it more comfortable. Whatever it may be.
The same is true for jeans: You can get away without a belt if you’re going to wear an untucked shirt and a sports jacket with them.
Does that imply that you must wear a belt whenever you tuck any shirt into your jeans?
My answer is yes.
The reason for this is that it does not look complete. It’s comparable to donning a sports jacket without a pocket square.
The look is completed with a belt.
You don’t have to wear anything uninteresting; you can have fun with it, use it as an accessory, and make it into your personal style. Or you might just bring in something classic and simple.
In the end, if the pants have belt loops and they will be visible, wear a belt with them.
What Belt Size Should I Buy?
Third scenario: Let’s talk about belt size.
Not all belts are made the same.
There will be some that are longer, some that are shorter, some that are thicker, and others that are thinner.
Find the ideal belt size for you at the end of the day.
How can you do that, though?
We’re talking 1 to 1.25 inches with a dress belt. Once you buckle it, you should have roughly 5 inches of material, give or take an inch. Your size and proportions will determine this.
A man who is 6’5″ can have between 6 and 7 inches. A man who is approximately 5’2″ tall should ideally have 4 to 3 inches of extra material going off the end.
Any length greater than 1.5 inches will be a casual belt. The end follows the same guidelines. You should aim for a length of 5 to 6 inches, although your size may give an inch more or less.
Should I Wear Suspenders With a Belt?
Moving on to situation number 4, now.
You just acquired a lovely pair of suspenders. You adore the style, are eager to wear them, and believe they will look fantastic.
You have oxblood belt and suspenders, for instance. Can the two be combined?
The answer is no.
Choose between the two.
Belts and suspenders both serve the purpose of keeping your pants up. There is no need to double it.
Only the working professional can wear suspenders and belts together successfully. This makes sense whenever you are wearing a hefty tool belt and want to spread the weight across your shoulders.
However, for the vast majority of us, the answer is no, choose one or the other.
How do you that?
You might be thinking, but you stated we have to wear a belt if we have belt loops on.
You need to get the belt loops taken out of a pair of dress trousers. It’s simple to do and it looks great.
Then the suspender will look fantastic. However, you shouldn’t wear them together.
But what if you want to wear jeans and suspenders together?
Simply avoid doing that is my answer.
You can choose to disregard my advice if you’re a true fashionista, but jeans are not made to be worn with suspenders.
Why?
The rise of a pair of jeans, which is the measurement that is taken from the bottom of the crotch area all the way up to the top, is too short. Jeans are made to be worn with a belt at all times.
Many pants available nowadays will have a greater rise, and they look fantastic with a set of suspenders.
Which Buckle to Use?
Let’s discuss belt buckles now.
The usual rule is that the buckle is more formal the simpler it is. Belt buckles, which are the opposite of formal, draw a lot of attention.
A casual belt buckle is one of those large, round Western buckles that you see at rodeos.
Anything that attracts a lot of attention, such as something with specific stones or costly metals, is going to be casual.
What are we going to see at the other end of the classy belt buckles? We observe quite simple, traditional dress belt buckles.
The simple guideline I mentioned at the outset of this section is not a hard and fast rule.
Due to its bigger proportion, an oversized version of a traditional belt buckle will lean more casually. It might also become more informal with the additional metal.
These are my recommendations for how to wear a belt so that you look great.
