Reader Question: Belts and Skirts, Skirts and Belts

The other day I received an email from lovely Reader Friend Dana:

Hello �

My name is Dana, and I'm a fan of your blog. You have fantastic style, and I love how you pair your skirts with belts. My question for you is: how? I always want to wear belts with my skirts, but can never get them to stay in place. If I tighten them enough to stay put, then they dig into my middle too much. It ends up being more hassle than it is worth during the day, so I tend to forego them entirely (despite how much cuter my outfits are with them).  Any suggestions?

Dear Dana,

Of course I have suggestions!  Lots of them!   Looking back through my archives, it appears that I depend on a few different things to keep my belts in place; belt and waistband width, belt placement, texture and, sometimes, safety pins. 

Go Wide

My first suggestion is to go wide; if you want to belt a skirt, a wider belt is usually better than a skinny belt.  And a wider waistband is usually better than a skinny waistband.  And they don�t have to be super wide; either.  Personally, I like a waistband between an inch-and-a-half and two inches wide and/or a belt between an inch and an inch-and-a-half wide.

Wide belts work well with wide waistbands:

 But, they also work well with thinner waistbands and can help improve the tuck of a shirt:

Placement

Hate wide belts and want to wear skinny belts?  Then placement is especially important because skinny belts tend to slide around like nobody�s business.  I keep my skinny belts in place by resting them in the seam connecting the waistband to the skirt:

Texture 

As you may have noticed, smooth patent belts on smooth cotton skirts won�t stay put for anything, so I suggest adding a little texture at the waist.  Like with elastic.  A lot of my skirts are thrifted and are from an era when they still had elastic waistbands.  Turns out, they�re not only comfortable, they help keep my belts in place:

If elastic waist skirts are too �old lady� for you, you can also add texture with an elastic or woven belt.  Again, the rough texture will help keep the belt in place:

Safety Pins

I sometimes use safety pins to create temporary belt loops on some of my skirts.  I pin them vertically to my waistband and then thread my belt through them.  Of course, unless you�re attempting to add a little subversive punk-y-ness to you outfit, I�d suggest using safety pins only if you�re doing a half tuck.   Just add the pins to the back and if you�re only half-tucking, no one is the wiser:

There are safety pins in the back, under the half-tucked shirt.

What about you, Dearest, Favoritest Reader Friends?  Do you have any tricks for belting skirts? 

Happy Tuesday, All!

Gracey