The useless belt: lots of buckle, nothing behind it – Style
In Brussels, in the Bundestag and at TSV 1860 Munich, people may see things differently these days, but for our part we can clearly say that no one needs to tighten their belts. Quite the opposite, in fact.
At least when it's not about the platitude in the metaphorical sense, but about actually wearing it. The “useless” belt from the nineties is back in fashion, which means that it sits as loosely as possible on the hips and just hangs there. No loops, no function, just an accessory. But there are plenty of them.
This has been going on for a while and is hard to miss on the streets this summer. Young girls in particular are wearing short ruffled skirts and a disc belta decorative belt with silver or gold medallions. Or they wear denim shorts or a skirt, but wear the belt below the loops. Dresses are also no longer accentuated at the waist, but a little further down, like Dua Lipa with a large, wonderfully useless studded belt in her video “Illusions”. The setting here is a swimming pool, by the way, so it unintentionally looks as if she is wearing a leather swimming ring around her hips.
The belt dangling around the waist is the phantom halter of the modern cowboy
The genesis of this comeback is relatively easy to understand. Recently there has been nothing from the 90s and 00s that has not been dug up again. Only the useless belt (and the useless scarf) were still missing from the list; they too were due at some point. Glenn Martens showed decorative belts that dangled loosely from the hips at Diesel last autumn, as did Michael Kors and Blumarine. At Chanel, the little chains over the tweed skirt never really went away anyway, and then Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton ushered in the general western comeback. The belt is basically the modern cowboy's replacement halter, the sometimes large silver plaques are reminiscent of Indian jewelry, the dresses are ruffled. prairie dressespreferably boots are worn with it.
At the same time, a German woman in Paris was preparing to reactivate the boho trend almost single-handedly: Chemena Kamali showed her fluffy, light debut collection for Chloé in February, which is now in stores, and many women immediately switched their minds: Sepia-colored! Seventies! Liberté toujours! I'm unbuckling! Because one detail was of course a must: the useless belt, this time in the form of a narrow link chain with a curved gold Chloé lettering as a buckle. On delicate dresses or a lace bodysuit, it has no other function than to simply hang around in an oversized, pretty way and leave its mark. Since then, we have found ourselves fully in the loose belt era, with pictures of the eternal boho girls Kate Moss and Sienna Miller from the noughties going around the world everywhere. Moss in a lurex mini dress with an extra low-slung belt, Miller with a ruffled skirt and thick studs at Glastonbury.
Aside from the fact that the low belts initially press a little on the hip bones, the focus slips well below the normal belt line, which – intentionally or unintentionally – is a pretty fitting allegory for our times. At least for the current way of dealing with social media, which has long been below the normal belt line for the most part. You would immediately believe that Miuccia Prada would make this nod with the buckle. At her label Miu Miu, the belts have been hanging extra low for two seasons to reveal the underwear underneath. This autumn, the waist is also slipping down in Prada's men's collection. Just below the waistband there are wide leather straps in various colours, almost like colourful ammunition belts. They wouldn't fit into the regular loops anyway.
At least now you notice what belts can do and cause
As useless as these things are on the one hand, they also clearly show how underestimated the belt is as an accessory. Many people still reduce its purpose to “buckle” and “fasten” so that your trousers don't slip off your bum. Sometimes it puts you in a bad mood because the hole in the leather no longer fits after your vacation. Otherwise, the buckle is obviously ideal for the striking presentation of a brand logo.
The right one can instantly turn jeans and a T-shirt into a “look”. Either because it is so well and perfectly made that it is simply the last discreet link in the chain. Or because it is an event in itself. Phoebe Philo, for example, has such a “statement” belt in her collection. It is decorated with many silver hexagonal plates and immediately lifts any item of clothing out of insignificance. Unfortunately, it costs just under 1000 euros. The days when belts were among the more affordable accessories are obviously over.
The wrong belt, however, can ruin everything. Plastic-like leather, a cheap, overly dominant buckle – and you can't take your eyes off your midsection. That's why there are people who claim that a person's taste can be easily determined by their belt. At least that's where you can clearly see who has a penchant for other people's initials.
But a belt can do a lot more. At Chanel, Moschino or Rabanne, it is traditionally seen as a piece of jewelry, just like a necklace or anklet, but on the hip. Vintage versions therefore easily reach four-figure sums. At Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière plays with it almost like sculptures, constantly changing its shape. The ends sometimes go steeply downwards or in an X-shape on both sides. The South Korean Rokh has a real buckle fetish and often adds several belts to his jackets to change their cut. One of Demna Gvasalia's first designs, which is now on display in a museum in Trieste, was also a corset made of belts put together.
The most interesting designs with buckles will come from Jonathan Anderson next autumn. At Loewe he showed off-the-shoulder dresses with a belt at the waist, which has now been pushed up. This was followed by a series of dresses that narrow at the waist, like dem “Pretty Woman” dress by Julia Roberts at the time, with cutouts on the sides. But instead of a ring, the Northern Irish designer has added a belt with an extra-large buckle in the middle as an eye-catcher – which, on closer inspection, turns out to be It turns out to be a trompe-l'œil belt. Big buckle, nothing behind it: Nothing can be opened or tightened here, the long end just hangs loosely down at the side. The height of uselessness, very fashionable.