Sure, orinally belts have had the function to hold your bottoms in place or the width of your garment under control. This guide covers how to best accessorize with belts to enhance your style and balance your body shape.
- Right Belting Ups Outfits of All Styles
- You’ll Love these Easy Stylist’s Belting Tricks
- Gallery of Belt Outfit Ideas
- Belting a Sweater
- Adding Shape to a Vest
- Twinset
- Evening Attire
- Sheath Dress
- Adding Shape to Dress
- Various Personal Styles
- More Tips How to Best Accessorize with Belts
Belting Ups Outfits of All Styles
The following ideas and tips work for all kinds of personal style – Casual, Bohemian, Classic, Urban, Dramatic/Glamorous – you name it. Don’t know your personal style? Take the free online style quiz to find out.

When putting an outfit together carefully consider every detail: Your personal style, lifestyle, body type, and budget. These details are truly indispensable. Remember
Expensive never substitutes for style. #fashionquote Click To TweetYou’ll Love these Easy Stylist’s Belting Tricks
What to try
- A head-to-toe monochromatic outfit using the belt as an accent or pop of color.
- A skinny belt worn over a skirt for a feminine touch.
- A thin belt over a partly closed jacket of a twinset. It’s a classic.
- Belted leather pants for a cool Rock’n Roll inspired look with blazer and T-shirt on the weekend.
- Match it to your bag, clutch for the weekend.
- Add a statement to an evening gown. So unexpected.
- Add a chain or thin gold or silver leather belt to cocktail separates.
- Use this accessory to up the style of a summer maxi dress. A little white dress with tan leather looks casual posh and laid back at the same time.
- Wear a wide belt over a sheath dress at the office.
- Use it for shape to underline the slimmest point of your body.
- Balance the look of loose pants with a fitted shirt using a belt.
- For an urban summer style try a white or olive dress with a tan thin double wrap style. When your torso is long, you can pull off a triple wrap where the leather is about an inch to 1.5 inch wide (2.5-3.8 cm).
- An evergreen classic is a LBD with a white belt. Best of all, it doesn’t matter whether it is fancy or a T-shirt version or anywhere in between.
- When you have Bohemian Style try a metal one with a floral maxi, ethnic or embroidered dress.
- Add a textured belt to a floral, abstract, leaves or paisley print maxi dress.
- Use a scarf as a belt.
- Up your sweater with a statement piece.
- What about adding shape to a coat or styling your outerwear?
- Try to accentuarte your waist when wearing a down vest?
- Jump the band wagon of belting a blazer
- Add shape to a straight knit dress. More on how to wear a knit dress in this guide.
- A chain belt to add glamour to a jumpsuit.
- Try a textured (e.g. alligator, crocodile, snake or lizard imprinted, laser cut or macrame belt) with a floral or abstract print jumpsuit.
- Knot the belt of a coat in the back, when wearing the coat open (e.g. side view photo of the OOTD). Otherwise, the tails can become not only a safety issue, but also get dirty when sitting down on public transportation.
- Let a statement buckle be the jewelry in your look like in the OOTD in this post.
- Knot the belt of a trench coat. Never close the belt of a trench coat in the front. Knot it! #styleadvice Click To Tweet
Gallery of belt outfit ideas
Belting a sweater

Adding shape to a vest
Twinset

Evening attire
Sheath dress
Adding shape
Don’t know your body shape? You can determine your body type online at this link.
Various styles
More Tips How to Best Accessorize with Belts
An important point when choosing belts is to consider your body shape. As a matter of fact, not every belt is best for you. However, knowing which belt is right fails to gurantee a polished effortlessly chic look. Unfortunately, when buying clothing you can already set yourself up for making mistakes when belting. How do you use this accessory? Just to keep your pants up? Just curious.
Don’t miss out on my styling tips for all kind of dressing situation in midlife, buy my book How to Dress for Success in Midlife.
Further Readings on Accessorizing
This post belongs to the series on how to up your outfit with accessories. Reading about how to up your style with scarves may be interesting because scarves are the cheapest accessories. You namely can find them for just a couple of bucks on sale. The cost-per-wear goes down into the cents over time because they will have a long tenure in your closet. When you are interested in reading about how to up your style with brooches go to the post at the link.
The series encompasses also a guide describing how to look incredibly stylish with hats. Hats are a Must-have for style at any celebration in the Southeast of the US. On the contrary, they are a winter Must-have in the Northeast and Alaska for thermal comfort. Similarly, gloves are not only for protection and insulation. In addition, they can eleveate your look in all kind of dressing situations. In case you missed the post, check this link for my 13 tips how to improve your style with gloves.
P.S. If you liked any of these outfit inspirations, please pin them to your own Pinterest board. Doing so helps your friends, family, and others to see them too.
P.P.S. Are you registered for my free bi-weekly newsletter with summaries of the posts and related information? I’d highly appreciate it if you take the time to sign up and ask your friends to sign up too!!
Photos of me: G. Kramm
© 2013-2021 Nicole Mölders | All rights reserved