Thursday, July 13, 2017

Trend: Wide Belts

With all the stores getting rid of their summer stuff right now, I'm noticing a lot of wide belts coming in now. Maybe instinctually, everyone's getting tired of looking like a shapeless blob with all those easy-to-produce geometric patterns everyone's been making for the past decade.

Blackhorne belt

http://lookbook.nu/look/8759063-Zara-Eyelet-Corset-Missguided-Oversized-Blazer

http://lookbook.nu/look/8736351-Daniel-Wellington-Classic-Petite-Melrose-Zara
So, like in the old days before tailoring (source: renn faires and medieval costumes, lol) there are wide belts to give our flowy/baggy clothing some shape/structure. Of course, those of us who wear dark fashion already know all about corset belts. Or waist cinchers. If you were like me these were the poor man's corset, because it was more affordable than the full corset. I'm seeing a number of corset belts (the two above are both from Zara (ew)). And I saw one at the H+M flagship that doesn't seem to be on the site yet. Many many fall runway shows had them too, so the fast-fashion knock-off machine will start moving soon.
http://lookbook.nu/look/8685893-Rosegal-Velvet-Body-80s-Inspired-Belt-Denim
Some of the wide belts were obi belts, which are very easy to DIY. With some clever tying of a thin black scarf, you've got the look.
http://lookbook.nu/look/8735289-Henri-Bendel-Cognac-Sunglasses-Goldknopf-Crystal
Obi belts obviously look great with the ninja/health/nu goth look (2nd from left below) but also can dress up a comfortable, sleek jersey dress like the one on the far right. The other helpful thing about wide belts is that if you are not proportionate, you can use it to move your waistline. A short person like me could pair it with a high or regular-waisted skirt to give the illusion of longer legs and a shorter torso (2nd from right, below) by creating an empire waist. If you are more of a rectangle, or just want to exaggerate your waist, these will accentuate the waist.

wide belts


Do you have any wide belts? I personally don't, aside from a few waist cincher corsets. I had a few in the 00s, but threw everything out in my first wardrobe purge. Aside from DIYing an obi belt out of a scarf, I'll probably sit this trend out, unless i see something that blows my mind. I don't like owning a lot of impractical things that also take up a lot of space, lol. This is definitely a trend for big suburban closets, not teeny tiny NYC apartments with zero built-in closets.

14 comments:

  1. Wait, wide belts are coming BACK? But they were in fashion in, like... 2007? What is ten years? I've started to wear them only recently D: I avoided wide belts when whey were in fashion, because they were in fashion and I was Too Ghoth for this shit lol (also, I hated my feminine curves). Thay came in handy once I started to evolve into shapeless blob because of too many layers.

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  2. I have cinchers but no wide belts, although I like the look of the obi belt. I'm short waisted though, so anything that adds bulk to that area will only exacerbate my figure flaws, so these belts are probably not for me lol.

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    1. You can just do the opposite what I have to do and wear it lower than your natural waist right?

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  3. I love belts. Wide, thin, etc. I've been seeing them all over the place, but didn't realize it was so trendy. I really like your collage/styling :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. Yeah all belts are everywhere... I've also been seeing belted pants, dresses, shirts for sale. Belts everywhere. Even saw choker belts. Belts that have belts (jk).

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  4. Finally, a trend that suits me! I have a very long torso; plenty of room for wide belts. ;) I used to have a favorite belt - sort of a reverse obi with big lace ties in the back - which I've been wanting to recreate.

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  5. I've been noticing the wide belt trend hard on Asos and Dollskill. I'm not a fan of wide belts. But lately I've been trying some different styles so I'm tempted to give it a go! My torso is so small, so it'll probably be a total fail.

    www.thewalrusroomblog.com

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  6. I already wore the waist-belt thing to death many years ago. I shall continue to look like a shapeless blob for now, lol.

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  7. I like wide belts, I used to have some elastic ones but they're so small! They're hard to find in larger sizes

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