Use belts to transform the look of your outfits... and you!

Have you noticed how the Trinnies and Gok Wans of the TV world use them all the time to make women look fabulous? They can flatter your body shape, add colour or texture, make an outfit look chic or even reassuringly expensive. Belts add fashion flair and personality - and we're not just talking about the outfit!

Seriously exciting belt inspiration  - check out http://belts.lookbook.nu/ Love it!

What are the 9 belt styles you should have in your wardrobe? - Find out here

Check out our fun photoshoot showing how belts can transform your wardrobe.

On this page for how to wear high fashion belts

'Quick links':

• Top tips
• What colour belt with what colour clothes
• More fashion inspiration
• Skinny belts
• Trouser belts
• Elasticated cinch belts
• Wide waist belts
• Obi belts
• Hip belts
• Jeans belts & casual belts
• Occasion belts & fashion belts with bling

Top tips

• The very fashionable 80s style just begs for the addition of a belt over those slouchy long tops – don’t leave the house incomplete. Grab a belt to wear on your hips or just below your waist if you are a pear shape.
• High waisted trousers and skirts are crying out for fashion belts too, whether thin or wide, they should be worn around the waist.
• Step over the line and add some variety - wear funky wide hip belts over your jeans rather than a bog standard jeans belt through the loops all the time.
• Elasticated cinch belts or wide waist belts including obis are great to change the draping of larger shapeless garments. Don’t throw them out but try them with a belt. Cinching the waist works well for dresses giving you two very different looks, especially bell shape dresses or tunics.
• Belts also work well for turning a casual dress into evening attire giving you a flattering silhouette - so for example the floaty summer dress with sandals gets cinched with a belt and teamed with heels and decadent jewellery for stepping out at night.
• For fitted dresses team them with skinny belts worn under the bust, around the waist or gracing the hips.
• Day to night – going out after work? Simply switching to a glitzy belt and jewellery with a shift dress can work wonders without you having to pack another outfit.
• Not going out? To go from smart to casual with a shift dress simply swap from a waist belt to a hip belt or loosen the waist belt to wear it on the hips.
• In Marta’s book you should not save your bling for occasions only – you can get away with wearing it during the day as long as you choose just one statement piece of bling which could be a gem encrusted belt or a glitzy bracelet or diamante hair clip.
• Work suits look sharper and you look more polished if you wear a belt with an attractive buckle whether it is small or large, wide or skinny – don’t forget you don’t need belt loops to go for this look and it works superbly with skirts too.
• Belts don’t have to just be worn with traditional belt fodder – they look great with long evening dresses and if you won’t be swimming, on your bikini hips.

What colour belt with what colour clothes

There are no hard and fast rules really - it's only men that should match belt colour to their shoes. You might want to tie your belt colour in with your shoes, handbag, scarf, hat, gloves or jewellery. If wearing gold earrings go for a gold buckle if not a gold leather belt or even gold chain belt - our interchangeable buckle belts in various widths and styles make this easy for you to achieve. Then there's colourful big red necklaces that you could match to a red belt etc too.

Matching tonally is far more important than matching exact colours - in fact you'll know if you have ever been out shopping trying to buy a green item to match another green item you already have that it's enough to bring on a migraine.

To look longer in the body you will want to match the belt colour to what is worn underneath - shorter ladies can look cut in half if they wear a dark belt on a light outfit. A bright coloured wide belt on a darker canvas on a large figure can add the illusion of width you don't want however for example a strapless black dress adding a wide pink belt will look fabulous. Also if you have a straighter body shape you may want the curves a lighter brighter colour belt with give you.

If you are reserved in your dressing and want to experiment with wearing bolder colours, start with a narrower brightly coloured belt - and if a bright colour is too out there for you go for a gold or silver leather. And if you're thinking "What the hell? let's go for it!" then get a printed belt which could be snake effect, animal print, leopard print or zebra print. Avoid textured soft hair on hide belts unless you are happy to live with the fact the hair will be lost with wear.

More fashion inspiration - dos, don'ts, ideas

See also the other pages in this 'inspire me' section for more fashion inspiration and sign up to our mailing list for new products, ideas and occasional special offers - for regular updates join us on facebook.

Now for some advice on how to wear the various styles of belts, whether fashion belts or classics, what garments they look great with and how to get the most out of your wardrobe - check out our 'Advice by style'.

We take the confusion about where to wear your belt away!

ADVICE BY STYLE

Skinny belts

Skinny belts are super thin belts and they are all the rage! They add sophistication when worn over a day dress or work blouse – you can team them up with the eternal little black dress for a demure evening look. Like most belt styles you can wear them on the hips as well unless you have a very heavy frame where they look lost.

Skinny belts are particularly suited to be worn on the empire line if your top/dress has one i.e. just below the bust line. Skinnies also work well when worn as trouser belts even if the loops are bigger if the trousers already have a good fit and don’t need holding up. Well actually they are pretty brilliant with everything including over coats, jackets and cardigans.

Because of their daintiness, those who are normally less adventurous with wearing bold colours, metallics or chains can be braver and cut a dash when stepping out without the belt dominating the outfit.

Skinny belts are a key fashion trend. If skinny width is just too skinny for you try a trouser belt instead. You might also like to knot your skinny belt known here as the catwalk dangle - demonstrated beautifully on this blog page we found recently - don't throw out your narrow belts if you have lost weight or buy a belt 2" to 8" longer than what you need depending on how much dangling you'd like to do ;-).

Trouser belts - approx 1 inch wide or 2.5cm

OUAB has of course your standard width trouser belts in many colours and with some very gorgeous buckle designs so that you can look stylish and individual.

On larger size girls a skinny belt can look less flattering but the right skinny belt look and balance can be achieved with a trouser belt.

And who said trouser width belts have to be worn just with trousers anyway? They are just as versatile as the skinny belt so check that out too for ideas of how to wear belts.

Elasticated cinch belts

The elasticated belts used to be strictly for the waist - however a lot of belt wearers love how comfortable it is wearing elastic at the back instead of hard leather that might dig in so a new style of belt is emerging where you can wear it lower down too - our own brand elastic cinch belt with interchangeable buckle possibilities is one you can wear on the waist or asymmetrically over your tummy.

If you have a large bust wearing the belt lower will stop your breasts bursting over the top of the belt looking too big. Larger ladies benefit from belts like this that create a V shape and then layer over with a long cardigan, jersey wrap or jacket. Perfecto! Yes you can wear belts and they'll give your outfits a lift.

Back to the standard elastic belt worn on the waist under the bust - if you have curves they’ll be kept under control beautifully and accentuated. If you need curves they’ll give shape to an outfit. If you are doing burlesque they are an essential part of the look.

In 2012 we started selling narrow elastic belts because we noted there was a gap in the market for the cinched effect for those who are short waisted and can't take a wide belt style. Every girl’s wardrobe should include an elasticated cinch belt. Similar effects, but without the help of elastic, can be achieved with wide waist and obi belts.

Wide waist belts

Wide waist belts are fabulous for making an impact. They’re straight from fashion heaven.

They can be worn between a top and skirt/trousers (sexy secretary style and even if not that style work brilliantly to join two disparate separates together), to make a plain jacket interesting, to add glamour to a plain dress, over a shirt with trousers which looks fab or the OUAB favourite, over a coat or cardigan worn as a coat, known as the coatigan.

You don’t actually have to wear them on your waist – try higher or lower.

Obi belts / sash belts / tie belts

Obi style comes from Japan where in their original guise these belts were traditionally worn with kimonos and fastened at the back giving a wide flat elegant frontage. Obi belts are long lengths, also known as sash belts or wide tie belts, available in various materials and colours that you tie around your waist. 3" wide ones can be tied low waist or on your hips. The 3" wide obi also suits every woman, especially the ones without supermodel torsos.

Ladies with short waists can use a tie belt instead and in 2012 we are expanding our range of these so that women of every height can feel the obi love. Tie belts are great to wear with coats and cardigans adding a luxurious touch to your outfit with this real leather beautifully handmade accessory.

When worn around the waist, wear it slightly higher than the waist. They work well in all the look ideas we have given you for wide waist belts. Obi belts cinch well too, drawing in the waist to create a gorgeous silhouette.

You can wear the obi tied at the front in the middle, at the front to the side or at the back. The choice is yours.

Teaming the obi with solid bold colours gives you a very contemporary look. Match the colour top/dress you are wearing and it lengthens you. Get in that wardrobe and dig out your tunics, unfitted shirts, longer-length dresses and long tops to try the obi out with.

Visit our special obi belt website to learn how to tie an obi belt plus much more.

Hip belts – belts worn lower than the waistline

Increasingly belts are seen worn on the hips and they look fab whether it is over a long jumper, coatigan, tunic, dress, boho skirt or pair of hipster jeans (not in the belt loops). The hip belts page shows belts only destined for the hips but you can wear other fashion belt styles on the hips too by getting them in a longer length.

A curved cut will always sit more comfortably on the body and these are more expensive because more leather is used, but they are well worth it for a great fit. Some waist belts including skinnies (and the Once Upon a Belt elasticated cinch belts with interchangeable buckles) can go from waist high to low slung by loosening them 10-15cm or buying a larger size or two in them.

Some of the hip only belts have unusual fastenings which are really funky or damned attractive such as the Stephen Collins hip hook belt which many love what it does for their figure from size 8 through to size 20. Belts that create a V shape are the friend of the apple shape / thick waisted lady.

Jeans belts & casual belts

Our page for jeans belts and belt styles for casual wear features all from bling to bold colours. Whether you want to make a statement or simply keep your jeans in the right place, we have the answer.

Our favourite discovery is how gorgeously tone-matched an olive coloured belt is with the olive tones often found in darker denims. So don't just consider black, brown and tan. Alternatively add a dash of colour with a belt and maybe match it to your shoes or bag - see our section about what you can match the colour of your belt to.

Remember that hip belts look fantastic when donned over hipster jeans – see picture above in hip belt section of this page.

Occasion belts & fashion belts with bling

Whether you are going somewhere special where you want to look like a million dollars with an unusual belt, you want something to go with your other bling accessories or you want to add some daytime glamour, we have the belt for you. You’ll find belts with sparkle, metallic finishes and also chain belts. All look divine with the classic little black dress or block colour dresses whether long or short.

We urge you to experiment with adding belts to all your evening wear and wearing your shiny belts for your Saturday shopping ‘n’ coffee with friends. Don’t hide your glamorous side until night falls or ‘til one of those rare grand occasions comes around. Even for day wear, a sparkly jeans belt looks great and as shown below, you can even get away with wearing a sequined belt over the right coat.