I don't like waist-height belts

[breakinglight11]

I don't really like the look of natural-waist-level belts. I'm not sure why. It's a very popular style these days, but something about them looks... uncomfortable to me. Even slightly dated, really, throwing back to the days when everyone wore their pants all the way up that high. I really really hate high waistbands, and the tying-off-in-the-middle effect just seems off to me. I much prefer the look of belts at hip-level; they look more natural there to my eye.

The weird thing is, waist-level belts can really nip in the look of a woman's waist, and I like when women emphasize the difference between their waist and the greater width of their hips. It's a very appealing contrast; I can even remember reading studies that suggest that men find most attractive not necessarily the women with the smallest waists, but with the most definite narrowness of waist in comparison to the wideness of hip. Belts do a lot to create definite waists when clothing or features of the figure would obscure them. But still, as much as like their narrowing influence, I dislike the look of the belt itself there.

Of course, the style isn't really appropriate for me anyway. I don't really need much in the way of waist-narrowing, as mine is pretty narrow naturally. Where I do need help is in the hip department. My hips are flat and slim. Wearing belts at hip-height somehow has the inverse affect of wearing them at waist-height; rather than narrowing, the hard flat line running acros there creates an illusion of width, serving in the opposite manner to create the look of the contrast I like so much.

So while waist-height belts may be figure-flattering for some ladies, they are not appropriate for me, and for some reason I just don't like how they look there anyway. I wonder if wearing clothes that are cut to be narrow at the waist and flare out towards the hip can do the job just as well, without that banding across the middle I dislike so much, or if that would not have as great an effect.
 

Comments

[lisefrac.livejournal.com]

Another fashion rant :) I love it.

I was going to point out that that look is really flattering for people like me, with short torsoes who are fat in the middle - but you came to that conclusion on your own, so...

[breakinglight11.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's counter-intuitive to me-- I really like the look they create, but I don't like the look of them themselves! :-P

[juldea.livejournal.com]

I apologize if this is unwarranted, but I have a belt rant...

As you probably know, I have a pretty decent difference in size between my waist and my hips, and definitely like to emphasize this. It's different enough that I have a hard time finding higher-waisted pants that fit right, because if they're big enough for my hips/ass they probably don't taper in enough to fit my waist correctly, and if they fit the waist they're too tight in the hips. Anyway. I tend to wear lower-waisted pants and even prefer this look (it might relate to shortness?) However, the topology of my body when you go in a loop around my hips is NOT flat. There are bits that are at an angle (the top of the butt, for example.) This means that any sufficiently solid fabric/leather belt just doesn't fit smoothly at all. It either stands at an angle against my body, straining the belt loops, or... well, pretty much doesn't work. If it's a stretchy belt of some kind, or linked chain, then it contours better and will actually fit, but I've never been able to find one of those standalone online. :(

So there you go, belt rant. All in all I totally agree with you about waist belts.

[breakinglight11.livejournal.com]

This was really interesting to me; I like hearing about how other women choose clothes and what is flattering to different body types, so always feel free to weigh in!