Belts as jewelry have certainly become a thing, and I’m not mad about it.
As a mom of a toddler, blinging out with a belt is certainly preferable to having my earrings yanked out or delicate necklaces snapped in half. (I can only imagine what Kim Kardashian, mother of four and wearer of a diamond belly chain reputedly worth $3 million, must have to deal with).
The blueprint
I recently fell in love with Aureum Collective’s No. 2 belt, an art-deco-inspired piece worn by one of my favorite fashion follows,
of . However, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to drop $450 on it.The brand was started by influencer Cass Dimicco, and while I typically like to support women-owned brands, a search of Reddit reviews for unbiased takes turned up complaints about the brand’s jewelry tarnishing within weeks and poor customer service.
Of course, Reddit users can be unsparing in their criticisms, and there are two sides to every story. However, after reading about the tarnishing, I took a closer look at the product details on Aureum’s website:
Custom-molded 24K gold, even at this price point, seems too good to be true, and a separate page on Aureum’s website clarified matters:
In other words, this $450 belt would likely tarnish over time if not immediately, if Reddit can be believed.
To be clear, I have no problem with gold plating: it makes otherwise luxury pieces more affordable and, with the right care, your accessories will still keep their shine for a long time.
Re-plating small items like a ring with a special design or sentimental value can be worth it. With the Aureum belt, however, we’re talking a lot of hardware to maintain and a steep upfront cost for a product of questionable quality. Plus, the aforementioned toddler hands tend to get sticky.
I decided to look elsewhere, which led me to another beauty, Khaite’s popular Benny belt ($580):
Khaite’s product details were at least upfront: 14-karat-gold-plated brass.
Based on reviews and reputation, Khaite’s quality can be trusted. While brass lacks the same shine factor, I would have preferred if Khaite had made the belt in solid brass over gold plating, as the former—while more prone to tarnishing—can be polished and the patina looks cool over time.
Khaite is a sought-after brand with phenomenal resell value. But even secondhand, their belts were too expensive for my price point, and the gold plating—which I felt ambivalent about—was likely what was driving up the cost.
It was time to go vintage.
The search
Remember the 1980s (or perhaps you’ve heard of them?)
Belts as jewelry were totally a thing:
But really, any limb that could be stacked to the skies with jewelry was fair game:
I decided to take a dive into the online trove of vintage 80s belts. A lot of these accessories are gold-plated; however, some designers opted to use solid brass. At the lower price point that secondhand vintage offers, either were good options for what I was seeking.
Here are the keywords I used in various combinations for my initial Google search:
vintage
solid brass
art deco
leather
embellished
Plus, I searched for these designers and brands:
Robert Lee Morris: beloved by the Olsen twins (they even did a collab with him in 2008), although in recent years he’s dabbled in a lesser-quality diffusion line (Robert Lee Morris Soho) that requires some search filtering. He also can be searched by his stamp, ‘RLM.’
Donna Karan New York: the designer did a collab with Robert Lee Morris in the 1980s and produced some beautiful gold-plated brass pieces that have held up nicely. Note that it’s important to specify ‘Donna Karan New York’ to avoid results cluttered with the designer’s long-standing diffusion brand, DKNY.
Escada: their circa-1980s diffusion line, Escada Sport, turned up some reasonably-priced options.
Brighton: I know what you’re thinking—that brand from the mall?—but trust me, the brand has been around since the 1970s and their old stuff is good. Same with Fossil, which has been around since 1984—the heyday of the belts-as-jewelry era—and Express (est. 1980).
If your budget is on the higher end ($300 upwards), you can also search for Chanel, Moschino or non-diffusion Escada. For what I was seeking, I set a budget of $100.
The results
In addition to using Google, I decided to start my search on Mercari, which is the virtual version of a yard sale hosted by your cool aunt.
Here’s a Fossil find ($29):
An unlisted brand circa the 80s ($25):
A tip: in addition to length (the circumference of the belt), look (or ask for) the belt’s width measurements, as wide belts cinched at the waist were popular in the 80s. The above belt looks like it would be slightly too wide to fit my pant’s belt loops.
Donna Karan, likely by Robert Lee Morris ($61; here’s another option for $110 on eBay):
Robert Lee Morris ($12 — seriously, someone please buy this!):
St. John ($108):
Escada ($145 but worth making a lower offer, or you could look for another option like this one):
Another Escada in brown suede with best offers open ($120):
Brighton ($29):
Unknown brand with subtle hardware via Poshmark ($12):
Moschino via Poshmark ($138 but worth making a lower offer):
The ‘Redwall’ stamp visible on the Moschino belt led me down a rabbit hole where I discovered this fun belt ($255 via Etsy) for those of you seeking more of a Jeremy Scott belt-as-jewelry vibe and have a higher budget:
But I digress.
Ultimately, I ended up buying a belt by Lady Canterbury, a brand of unknown provenance but very cute art deco details. Italian leather, minimal tarnishing, and an affordable price point ($26): check. Here’s a link to the same style ($35), and a similar one that’s solid brass ($65).
Pictured on the left, next to my new Artizia Perennial solid brass belt ($78), since I had room to spare in my belt-as-jewelry budget:
Details:
At eight months pregnant, this belt isn’t fitting around any body part right now, but I look forward to styling it with my secondhand Reformation Mason pants and a high-neck tank in the coming months.
Pro tip from my friend (and reader!) Cynthia: if your tastes lean more Bode than Khaite, use the search term 'Appenzeller,' which is a type of traditional Swiss belt with fun details like brass sunbursts and animals.
Here for all of this. This is the one OTT '80s accessory takeaway that I think is almost universally wearable!