Wearing a Belt

What girl nowadays wears a belt? I don’t. I often hear my brothers hollering, wondering where their belts went, but I’m never left looking for mine because I don’t even own a real belt.

The main reason I have shied away from belts is, I’m short, and therefore wearing a horizontal line around my waist would have the effect of cutting me visually in half, making me look shorter than I already am.

However, I did not say that it would be impossible for me to pull of a belt, or that it’s impossible for any short person to do so. Or that only tall people can wear them! A lot of different styles that are difficult to pull off in one form, work out in another. A wide leather belt, positioned low on my waist would, for sure make me look short and stumpy. So how to pull off a belt?

• First: Wear a monochromatic outfit if you are going to wear a belt on the outside of the garment — either a dress, or a top and pants/skirt that are the same color and you will not run the risk as much of cutting your height visually in half because of the unbroken line of wearing all the same color.
• Second: Choose a belt that is skinnier. A thin horizontal line around your waist is better than a thick one. And if you can, purchase a belt either in a light metallic color, or match your belt to the colors in your outfit instead of trying to create a shocking contrast.
• Third: Position the belt higher up – at least on your natural waist, don’t be afraid to wear it even higher! It would be a good rule of thumb to wear the belt around the thinnest part of your waist, to draw the eye there, instead of around the thickest part of your waist.

Some outfit ideas for incorporating a belt:

• A short sleeved jersey dress and a metallic colored belt, positioned high on the natural waist.
• Pants, printed blouse, skinny double-wrap belt in a coordinating color with the printed blouse, or a neutral metallic color.
• Denim pencil skirt, short-sleeved blouse, short sleeved regular length cardigan – halfway buttoned – and a skinny belt around the natural waist on the outside of the cardigan.
• You could also tuck a blouse into a pencil skirt and wear your skinny belt around your hips for a polished look. But be aware, that this is harder to pull off, because you’re positioning a horizontal line around a part of your body you might not want to emphasize, and tucking your blouse in breaks up that unbroken line you might be going for.

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