Yahoo Lifestyle Something Crazy Is Happening With Belts
The Swedish brand Hoda Kova loves a belt but doesn’t sell a belt.
If you want to a belt by the emerging label, you’ll need to buy multiples, and you can’t wear them with your pants, either. Instead, they’re strung together to form a bag or a dress or a shirt. Hoda Kova sells what it considers “converted goods,” things that look like other things because they’re made of other things. Belts that aren’t really belts.
When I first saw the Hoda Kova baguette bag, made-to-order out of six different belts with bulky silver buckles that protrude out the side and clank up against one another, I wanted it instantly. I’ve never been one for belts, but a bag made of belts felt right up my alley. It’s the kind of unique piece that would inspire people to ask if you made it yourself because it's so hard to imagine a massive corporation or a brand conceiving of it themselves.
Looking at the bag of belts made me think about belts at large, like how they don’t really have much of a reputation. The thought of funky low-rise pants divides generations. Sneaker wedges bring back visceral memories for those who grew up in the ‘00s. Every year, new bags contend for the highly coveted It bag status. Belts are just…kinda belts? No one is arguing about them, no one is pitting them against one another, no one is really thinking much about them at all. Poor belts. It’s kind of sad when you think about it.
It’s probably because, ultimately, belts are a utilitarian accessory. They’re used to secure clothing, to make sure we aren’t caught with our pants around our ankles. And there’s not much excitement around something that exists mostly to prevent wardrobe malfunctions. Belts save the day, but without much fanfare.
Of course there are fashion belts. Chanel is particularly good at this, with belts made of gold charms, pearls, and leather bows. There was the Gucci logo belt that became infamous for its everywhere-ness, which Sabato De Sarno is slowly bringing back with a smaller buckle. And there was the Dehanche leather belt so big it’s essentially a corset—the one that fashion insiders like Tracee Ellis Ross began to wear over their jackets as a way to cinch bounds of otherwise shapeless fur.
But what’s happening to belts right now is far more complicated and nonsensical. It’s not that they’re necessary or pretty. They’re actually neither; they’re getting weird.
At Prada this season, models wore ribbed, high-waisted leggings in bold primary colors, layered underneath transparent skirts and dresses, with belts tucked into belt loops underneath. Other models wore skirts with what appeared to be a low-slung belt around the top of their thighs, but upon closer look were revealed to be illustrations with hardware around the buckle for a 3D appearance. Mrs. Prada and Raf also created pleated skirts with a belt worn around the belly button, connected to the low-riding skirt itself by metal links, in a way the internet immediately noticed was reminiscent of the time Carrie Bradshaw belted her abs.
Later on at Miu Miu in Paris, Mrs. Prada envisioned belts as a layering tool—a jingly tangle of fabric and metals and charms worn around the waist. It was reminiscent of the overloaded bags, stuffed to the brim and dangling with personalized charms, that she popularized over the last two seasons.
As an onlooker, it made me wonder: If we can layer necklaces around our necks, why can’t we do the same for belts? We’ve all heard the phrases “neck party” and “arm party” but what about “waist party”? Hips don’t lie, after all, so maybe they deserve to have some fun too. If Mrs. Prada says we should start treating belts like jewelry, then you already know everyone will listen.
At Vaquera, belts were layered as well, except they were worn one after the other starting from the hip and ending half-way up the torso, like a metal corset. And if they weren’t worn like a garment, they were supersized to be nearly as large as one, strapped on slanted with large grommets. At Ferragamo and JW Anderson, jackets with low-hanging belts were sent down the runway. Whereas a typical jacket belt works to cinch your silhouette, these felt decorative, like an unexpected cherry not on top; a little oomph where oomph isn’t often seen.
So what gives? The easy answer would be that the popularization of low-waisted jeans caused belts to be repurposed since they were no longer needed, in the traditional sense. That allowed people to see them for what they really were: freaky straps of leather and metal that can be worn like an oversized piece of jewelry.
But maybe it’s also about letting go and letting loose; letting your pants fall a little because you’re wearing your belt around your chest as a top instead. For so many seasons now, we’ve been talking about the return of the wardrobe and essentials and minimalism and the recession and dressing for the life you’re actually living instead of the one you want.
But the lives most of us are living right now is still chaotic; you can’t just create order by dressing orderly. It feels like something most people are noticing: that dressing for the job you want is still just dressing for someone else. So why not get a little weird with it all and wear your belt like it's not a belt at all? That feels like a better reflection of reality right now than anything else, anyway.
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