Buckle up — bold belts are back

In the hierarchy of accessories, belts are often overlooked in favour of bags, jewellery and shoes. But statement belts are making their way back into wardrobes, part of a revival of 90s and Y2K styles that have proved popular with Gen Z. On runways, designers have shown belts that border on jewellery, such as the slim rhinestone and gold chains slung over almost every look in Saint Laurent’s autumn/winter 2021 collection, chain belts with mystical-looking crystals at Marine Serre and blinged-up cowboy belts at Isabel Marant. At Chanel’s recent Métiers d’Art show, chatelaine belts dripped with pearls and chains.

Eighteen-year-old American singer Olivia Rodrigo paired a ’90s Chanel tweed suit with a chain belt when she went to the White House to encourage young people to get vaccinated. Phoebe Hadley, founder of vintage rental and styling service Hadley London, reports high demand for vintage Chanel and Versace chain belts; she’s also seen people create DIY mini purse belts by looping logo wallets by Chanel and other designers on to chains.

Suddenly, I’m looking at outfits and mentally superimposing a belt on to them. But what’s the appeal now? Perhaps it’s locating my waist again after giving up loungewear. Belts also hold the promise of upgrading an old outfit without buying something new. And it’s a much easier styling hack than the trend for leather harnesses, with their dungeon mistress meets trapeze artist vibe.

But there’s an art to it. Adding the wrong style could have disturbing echoes of mid 2000s makeover shows, in which an overzealous TV stylist adding a belt to a clashing dress and declaring it a wardrobe overhaul passed for entertainment.

At Matches Fashion, head of womenswear Cassie Smart says, “I do think we are seeing our clients experimenting with bolder styles, as they find joy in fashion following times of uncertainty. We have some incredible silk cord belts with heart-shaped, or cabochon-embellished gold buckles from Sonia Petroff and gold plated belts — including one with an ancient Egypt-inspired crystal scarab — from Begum Khan. With neutral basics, a statement belt adds a real point of focus to an outfit and can be really flattering.” I’d suggest layering over a plain dark jumpsuit, midi dress or even a plain cashmere jumper.

Adding momentum to the purely decorative belt is the new Sex and the City spin-off And Just Like That, screening this week. In the original series few outfits escaped having a belt lashed over the top as part of the show’s maximal aesthetic.

Whether the belt styling this time round hits the spot is debatable, even if Carrie and co do help bring the accessory back into popular culture. Images from the show include Carrie in a wide black studded belt over a hot pink dress — a twist on an outfit from the original show — which looks somewhat clunky and contrived.

Stylist Alexandra Fullerton, who has worked with celebrities such as Awkwafina and Naomie Harris, and is fashion director at large of Glamour, says she wears a belt “every single day”. I still remember seeing Fullerton at London Fashion Week in Balenciaga jeans and navy jumper worn with a gold-link waist belt that gave her uniform look a dash of glamour. “Make-up artists cite lipstick as a punctuation mark to the face and it’s similar with belts,” she says.

Having worn both the chain belts of the 90s (over velvet flares from Morgan, then the sixth former’s answer to Gucci) and low-slung, wide leather belts à la Sienna Miller circa 2004, I’m keen to go for a modern take on styling rather than replicate belts of times past. Although I might dig out my silver chain.

Fullerton suggests a thin belt, which can cinch an oversized blazer, or a diamanté belt that would add a finishing touch to a silky slip dress in the evening. “This winter, for going out, I’ll be wearing a vintage-look gold chain link belt over black guipure lace with sharp kitten heels,” she says.

Although Fullerton prefers a narrow style, she adds that “extra-wide belts that have a mix of traditional obi combined with corsetry — from Alaïa, McQueen and Loewe — are also noticeable right now. With a more structured, tailored feel they work excellently at balancing out a strong shouldered silhouette.”

For a small drinks party around Christmas (or Downing Street inspired “cheese and wine”) my dream accessory would be something like the vintage Chanel gold mesh belt with flower buckle as worn on the catwalk in 1996 by Carla Bruni (£2,100, 1stdibs.com), which I would wear over a black cashmere dress. I also like Isabel Marant’s Joia crystal embellished silver tone belt, (£385, net-a-porter.com) or Paco Rabanne’s gold Eight belt with oval links (£530, pacorabanne.com), to team with high waisted jeans. It’s a cinch.

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