Reader Question - Belting It
I recently received a great question from a reader named Gail.
Hi! I’m one of your followers on tumblr and i just love your blog! I’m so inspired by it :)
Well, I have a question about belts. I put together a GREAT creation (pretty adventurous for me) of a black pin stripe pant with a white floral print on top. The shirt is one of those deals with a white cami under a see through-y black and white print. Then I decided it needed a belt over the shirt, at the waist…and I HAVE a (mostly) black belt that looked perfect. It was a great combination!!! But the belt was long and there was no loop to hold down the extra length. If I tucked it under, it just looked weird because it was a little bit thicker.
So my question, oh great fashionista of the blogging world, do you have any advice on what to do with the extra length of a belt without a loop to hold it down?
First off, thanks so much for reading and for all of the sweet comments. Your outfit sounds great - I love a good pattern mix, and I love to see people push the boundaries of their own wardrobe even more! Now, let’s tackle your belt dilemma.
The easiest way to deal with the extra length is to simply tuck it in. You’ll want to move the belt buckle prong to the side to allow you to pull the belt as tight as possible before slipping the extra into the loop. With a super long tail, you can shift the buckle over to the side so it sits on your hip and have the tucked in part at the center.
With flexible belts, an extra long tail allows for some creative looping. This rope belt lends itself to a knot-like loop, but you can also go for multiple loops like Karla did here.
Believe it or not, woven and braided belts are the easiest to secure. All you need is a bobby pin!
Simply slide the bobby pin through the holes in the braided part of the belt, catching a couple from the outer layer, which is the tail of the belt. When you’re done, the tail will lay flat against the waist part of the belt. (Or you can slap some double-sided tape on it. I won’t judge.)
Yet another way is just to tuck the extra belt piece back into the buckle like so. Kasmira took it a step further by looping the belt back through.
If none of these options work for you, you may want to consider shortening the belt from the buckle end. If it’s leather, your shoe guy can make the alterations fairly easily. For cloth or elastic belts, a quick job on the sewing machine will make all the difference.
Thanks, Gail, for such a great question! I hope you found a way to make your floral and pinstripe outfit work!
If you have a style dilemma and need some advice, or just want to say hi, shoot me an email or use the Ask feature on tumblr!
