Belts: The Side Dish often mistaken for the Main Course

Fundamentals of Male Fashion

Welcome my drippy frens to Turbo Fashion, where we make the world a more beautiful place one wallet punishing article at a time.

Today we will be reviewing an issue that seems to trip up an astounding number of people, Belts and their respective shoe and accessory pairings.

If you’re in your mid 20s – mid 30s, you will undoubtedly be invited to weddings, some of which might feature you in the groomsman party.  The groom will come up with the outstandingly original idea that you should all wear suspenders because it’s very funny and very original.  You strap up your extremely funny and original suspender garb and rock whatever shoes you’re comfortable spilling high volumes of alcoholic beverages on, and you set off on the night without a care knowing you won’t be held accountable for the way you’re dressed.

These instances are few and far between.  In 99% of social settings of varying degrees of formality, you will be judged directly based on your discretionary selected attire.  This poses a problem for many men because they don’t read my substack or follow me on twitter, and thus are destined to show up wearing the 8th grade graduation special without even realizing it.

This is a fundamentals post because it’s an area where we need to start from zero for a lot of guys.  Please read the below sentence very carefully, then repeat reading it until you are psychologically incapable of forgetting it.

“The more formal your footwear, the closer your belt should match it”

Belts are derivative of your choice of shoe and not the other way around.  The belts you own should be directly reflective and lock step with your shoe rack. 

Somewhere along the way in recent years belts became a kind of standalone accessory through which younger folks enjoyed billboarding the net total sum of their summer job paychecks.  Money for dates, investments and hobbies be damned, there are belts with Italian designer logos as their buckles to be purchased, for some reason.

If you own any of the aforementioned Italian/French designer belts, either sell them on StockX or donate them to Goodwill for extra Chad points.  They don’t serve any purpose beyond trying to project a hollow air of being rich when actual rich people don’t wear anything of the sort…or at the very least nothing with overt levels of branding.  More on legibility in clothing and levels of branding to come in subsequent posts.

Belts are at their core a way to keep your pants from sagging while also serving, in normal cases, as an accessory that enhances your outfit.  Unless you’re Batman belts have no business being the primary focal point of your fit and trying to do so makes your outfit look incredibly inconsistent. 

It’s not limited to belts either.  Relying on any single article or accessory to carry you gives your entire look an incredibly lopsided impression, like you put all your financial eggs in one basket and it’s obvious even to people with little fashion sense that what you’re doing doesn’t work.  The only real instance where this has the potential to be pulled off is rocking a clean watch contrasted against full blown beach bum attire, but that’s still not ideally done in any overly public places.

Choosing a belt can be onerous, especially since so many of them “look alike” as can feel like they’re all kind of serving the same purpose.  This is true to an extent, especially when you’re either wearing them mostly in either a business casual environment or street casual when your untucked shirt mostly covers it anyway.  Details only really start to matter when you enter the formalwear sector where material, buckle characteristics etc. actually have an impact on your entire wardrobe.

Luckily the large scope of belt shopping for Turbos will be constrained to casual wear, and this is interestingly some of the less wallet hurting shopping that will be done at my advice.

Casual & Business

When we talk regular casual, we are referring to most regular everyday outfits that would normally call for a belt primarily out of formality. 

Jeans? Belt.

Chino [shorts]? Belt.

Linens? Belt.

Regardless on top or accessory selection, if you’re anything above complete beach bum or wfh garb mode, wearing a belt with your outfit is kind of necessary.  Ever see an adult wear jeans with no belt?  It happens way more than it should, and the results are terribly 100% of the time.  95% of the time if your article of clothing has belt loops, you should be using them.  Only exception is if you’re really dressing down shorts.

The ideal casual belt has a width of about 1.5 inches, and will properly fill out most belt loops without too much remaining awkward looking empty space. Properly filling your belt loops also prevents belt sag, which is desirable because nothing looks worse than a belt that’s just kind of resting feebly in the loops.

Also remember the mantra above. We are in casual territory, meaning there is a lot more leeway in terms of what matches which belt. Sneakers, canvas shoes, boat shoes, casual loafers, etc. all have very broad spectrum of what’s permissible. There really aren’t that many hardline rules when it comes to matching shoes and belt in the casual sector, with one exception: if you happen to pair a nice leather (dress boot, darby shoe etc.) with a much more casual outfit, it’s critical you either wear leather to match, or a different material entirely.

If you really want an end all be all solution to casual belt game, it’s hard to go wrong with Anson belts (not sponsored).

These guys solved a problem many in the fashion industry had been neglecting for decades, which is is that belt holes look bad and worn out in the event one has lost/gained weight and has to move up or down a peg. Having a belt sans holes, with much more granular adjustability, will not only look great on any weight loss/getting swole journey you take but you’ll also never have to worry about stretching it out on a particular position. You’d be surprised just how much better a clean, straight belt looks over one that’s obviously had some mileage up front.

It’s tough to go wrong with a dark brown tanned leather style; it accommodates almost every type of bottom that has belt loops. The textured leather is an order of magnitude more casual than its smooth counterpart, which gives it its strong versatility. Alternative options on this plane are tanned leather in black or dark oxblood. Advise against lighter/walnut shades of brown in textured format as they might push the yee-haw meter a bit high for your taste.

Alternative styles also exist further down the casual spectrum. Particularly in the nylon and cloth department.

A nylon will work well when rocking linens, super casual and ideally lighter jeans, and many chino style shorts. They’re also a fair bit more durable.

The same can be said for canvas. These are the most ideal for linens and real turbo beach bum-lounge lizard styles, and are ideally rocked with a 6 pack and no shirt. Gold chain optional.

Buckle? This is probably the simplest part because belt buckles should, by law, be as subdued, clean and sleek as possible. The below styles, whether you went with the Anson option or another, are what you should always be aiming for. Always avoid: big flat front face, any sort of design whatsoever (think don’t mess with texas)

Unless you nabbed yourself a light canvas or maritime nylon belt, at which point you’ll want to go full blown nautical Jimmy Buffet send with distressed gold.

Formal

This is where a lot of people will start to disagree and argue more about the merits of super nice belts vs subdued sleek mid shelf options.

If you wear semi-casual many days a week or need to wear a suit often for various dealings, wearing a belt every day can be taxing for it. It’s tough to stomach spending large sums on a nice belt that’s going to bend, dry out and get exposed to the elements often, and require either extensive care or replacing every 3-6 months.

Thus, it’s important to find yourself something that strikes the perfect balance between not looking like plastic fisher price baby’s “my first belt” and something worn by David Beckham. Something that seamlessly matches your shoe options, while not effectively doubling your shoe budget.

Now, refer to the mantra above. We are dealing with formal wear, so your shoe choice will be directly impacting your belt choice.

Your leathers always need to match. Period. Black belt tan shoes, brown belt black shoes, tan belt oxblood shoes, no no no. Get it deep in your brain that your belt and shoes must match, at the absolute bare minimum in color. This is a criminally ignored yet hardline and eternal rule of fashion.

Now time for some shilling.

That’s right meine freunde, the Allen Edmond’s wide basic dress belt.

If you’ve read my previous posts regarding varying levels of shoe options, you will know that I recommend Allen Edmond’s constantly because I think they’re the all around best American made shoe you can get for the price category. And now that you have a wardrobe full of them, what better to pair with you new Black Park Ave Cap toes and Walnut Dalton Boots than their respective belt counterparts.

Jokes aside, even if you are not rocking deep amounts of Allen Edmonds on your shoe rack, these belts pair well with a good many other makes and models (Beckett Siminon, Taft, Cole Haan, etc.) as they are all roughly on the same shade of walnut and same gloss/matte spectrum. At $98 a piece, these belts don’t burn your fun money budget too hard and remain easily replaceable should they become overly damaged from excessive wear. Also at 1.38 inches of width, it strikes the balance between filling out casual wear loops while remaining thin enough to accommodate a sleek formal look when needed.

Extra: Very Formal

Look, at the end of the day what you wear is up to you. You could pay me thousands of dollars to set you up with a complete new wardrobe, but if you decide to deviate from me or anyone else’s advice it’s purely on you.

All I will say is that if you’re planning on wearing a belt with a buckle that overtly shows it’s a high ticket designer piece, every other article on your body better be ready to back it up. I’m taking Rolex/Omega or above on wrist, suit obviously custom cut, shoes that have at least the same dollar value as belt in question. You CANNOT allow yourself to be the guy strutting around with an off the rack-er from Kohl’s and expect it to be pulled together by a Medusa codpiece. I urge you to save yourself from doing this ahead of time.

If you do like nice things, hate money, and have the desire to look extra at times with the accessories to back it up, there’s nothing wrong with getting yourself a clean black Ferragamo belt. Depending on your style, sliver or gold glossy metal buckle. Frankly it’s an iconic piece that I respect (although it has and still is being widely played) but like mentioned, paired with the correct suit and watch it can really make you shine.