Ladies Belts & Buckles: A Primer

[cherry lips]

A History of Belts

I've searched the FL for a proper belts thread and found naught. If this thread already exists, please merge it.
Does anyone know a good site with a history of belts? Preferably ladies belts, from the 1930s-1950s. Or maybe you personally have knowledge and pictures to share (I know you do ). I own three 50s belts I could post pictures of. I really need to learn how to date belts! I want to know all about the fashions and the fads.

 

[cherry lips]

This is a GREAT question and something I wonder about as well. Not so much about how to date belts, but about evolution of belt style and how to pick the right one to be accurate.

(Kitty replied to this in another thread, I thought I'd add it here.)

 

[Lady Day]

I dont know if you would date the belt as much as you would the buckle. For dresses, most belts were made for them. Ive found most belts with my vintage dresses to be between an inch and an inch and a half in width, with the buckle (if used) in the accommodating size as well.

I would take a guess at dating via materials. Metal wood 30s, plastic later 40s and on?

I have a slew of vintage buckles. Ill see if I can get some pics together.

Sorry Im no help

LD

 

[LizzieMaine]

LD is right about most belts being the sort that were sold with dresses, plus you could buy bac-a-belt kits to make your own. Belts were available seperately, though -- I just grabbed the Spring-Summer 1941 Sears catalog, which was the nearest one handy, and they offer eight different designs of belts, buried in the Accessories section among the hankies, snoods, and kerchiefs. They varied from 3/4 inches to 2 inches wide, and were mostly plain brown or black leather in very simple styles, although one striped elastic "sport belt" was offered. The narrower belts had simple metal buckles, but the wider styles had fancier plastic buckles. They were offered in two price grades -- 25 cents and 49 cents.

 

[Mary]

Bac-a-belt kits! That's fun!

I don't know much about belts but here are some thoughts of mine. I don't know if there were all that many belts around before the 1930's, belts with buckels that is. Maybe they had them for sports. Someone else must know though.Most of the time I think the belts came with the dress and simply matched it and didn't stood out like like Lady Day said.

But in the 1940's I think the belts got another role. That you could buy a belt and match the dress or the skirt and blouse. Maybe it's just me inventing facts but I believe one baught more accessories during the war. Kept the clothes but changed details to make a dress more casual or elegant.

I think the wide belts appear during the 1940's. At least in the movies. I was quite surprised to see some of them. I'll see if I can hunt down some pictures.

M

 

[KittyT]

I don't know if there were all that many belts around before the 1930's, belts with buckels that is. Maybe they had them for sports.

From Wikipedia:

Belts have been documented both for male and female clothing since the Bronze Age. Both sexes used them off and on, depending on the current fashion, but it was a rarity in female fashion with the exception of the early Middle Ages, late 17th century Mantua and skirt/blouse combinations between 1900 and 1910.

In modern times, men started wearing belts in the 1920s, as trouser waists fell to a lower, natural line. Before the 1920s, belts served mostly a decorative purpose, and were associated with the military.

 

[Mary]

Good to know. I really should learn how to use the internet and wikipedia. Instead I look trough books and and magazines and end up living in a constant chaos!lol

 

[cherry lips]

Dear ladies,
worthlesswithoutpics
I don't own a camera, but when I get to borrow one I'll post pics of 6 belts I know are 50s, and a few others I'd like to have dated.
Show me your belts!

 

[KittyT]

I know this belt is 50s. It's 1/2" wide.

 

[cherry lips]

Dating belts

Belts numbered from left to right:

I would like to have belts #1-4 dated, please. #6 too. When you date, explain how you went about it.

#1 - ca 1" wide.
#2 - 0.60"
#3 - ca 0.75"
#4 - 1.75"

#5 - 0.50" (1950s)
#6 - 1.50" (1940s or 1950s - tell me if you know!)
#7 - 0.75" (1950s)

Inside of belts:

I like the buckle on #2 - what era is it typical for?
Belt #3 has some interestingly shaped holes (not round) that I've taken a pic of above.
#4 is made of straw with a fabric (cotton?) lining.
The buckles of #5 and #7 are covered in leather on the outside, but the inside bares the metal (and the brand Astor). #7 is covered in leather both on the inside and outside, so it's double and equally nice on both sides, which I find unusual. #6 has oval holes (see below) and is made of very soft and thin suede, which covers the entire buckle. The belt is shiny on the inside.

 

[Miss Sis]

Cherry Lips, number 6, the brown suede one looks 30s to me, although it could be 40s. I have one that, from what I can tell, is exactly the same.

I have recently been going a bit mad on belts since you always need them for all the dresses that have lost their original ones.

I got to go take some pics of my belts to share with you ladies!

 

[KittyT]

#2 looks 70s or 80s to me. I've never seen a vintage belt with that type of elongated buckle. I'm no expert though!

 

[Vintage Betty]

Someone on the Lounge asked for information regarding ladies belts and buckles. After waiting a number of weeks, no one has stepped forward, so I pulled some items from my collection and compiled them into groups by era, which may or may not be correct.

****************************************
What is a belt?

A belt is a clothing accessory item usually referred to by a piece of fabric or material (leather, plastic, chain) which highlights the waist and hip region. Since the medieval period, belts have been known to enhance fabric, beautify a clothing ensemble, hide regions of a body and act as embellishments. The medieval period had chain belts and metal belts; through the ages this clothing accessory has been created out of metal, fabric, plastic, feathers, jewels, glass, leather and more. A belt can include or not include a buckle.

What are buckles?

Buckles traditionally refer to clasps which bind material or bring material together at the waist or hips. The buckle is normally metal, but can also be fabric only or made out of firm material. The buckle and material can be decorative or can serve a purpose by identifying the waist or hips of a lovely lady or adhering materials together in a central point of focus on a body. Depending on the era and the belt and buckle in question, the position, materials and placement may vary.

When studying a ladies belt, there are four things it is helpful to learn in order to identify the belt in question:

-Metallurgy; the study of metal. This is useful for identifying both the buckle and the standard grommets holding the buckle pieces together.
-Fontography; the study of printed font
-Textile Identification; this can include leather and other materials
-Embellishments and their identification. This can include hallmarks, plastics, rare and common stones, costume embellishments and more

In studying belts, the textiles and materials associated with the belts and additive items which also can pass as belts (eg, shoe clips, cape clips, hat buckles) we can better understand the belts by era and identification of type.

Please join me in an exploration of belts and buckles, shoe clips, cape clips, hat buckles and their identification.

Respectfully submitted,

Vintage Betty

 

[Vintage Betty]

The Victorian Era, including Art Nouveau pieces

To start this identification process, here are some belts and buckles that I have grouped by the Victorian Era. Note these include the Art Nouveau period as well, as this artistic style overlaps the Victorian Era.

The Victorian period is defined with heavy embellishments with great detail and the Art Nouveau period is defined with swirling designs which often interlock with each other.

The first question is, which are Victorian and which are Art Nouveau? Which of these are actual belt buckles and which are not?

Take a guess at the buckles at the below picture before looking further down the page at the answers.

Top: Cloissonne buckle with glass stones and black belting: Victorian
2nd Row: Letter B Buckle: Art Nouveau
Square glittery buckle with black center: This is actually a steel cut Shoe Clip
3rd Row: Small glittery belt with prongs: This is a Victorian steel cut belt buckle
Two-toned buckle in gold and black, Victorian, as late as 1920's, part of a pair.
Heart shaped buckle: Mother of pearl backed in brass, Victorian. Part of a pair.
4th Row: Pair of glittery buckles: These are actually shoe clips, but sometimes people used them as buckles unintentionally and they are often misidentified. This pair is Victorian and is steel cut.
Gold Sash Pin on card: Buckle, Art Nouveau period
5th Row: Bow Pair: Probably pot metal, this is Victorian, but most likely a child's cape clasp.

Now how do you determine which item is a buckle, shoe clip or cape clasp? Look carefully at each piece and try to imagine where a ribbon would be threaded through the piece. I will have a more detailed tutorial at the end of this thread, so you can see the front and back of each piece side by side along with a designation of each piece so you can print it out for future reference when shopping.

Two pieces with one piece having a clasp, the other a catch with an area for the ribbon to be threaded through on each side. This is a buckle.

A single piece (or two pieces) which have a single piece of metal bar on the back for the ribbon to be threaded through without catching. This is a shoe clip. Another variation of this clip has a spring loaded clasp on the back to grab the shoe material. The back of the shoe clasp catches the underside of the material, with the metal sitting against the foot. The front of the piece usually has a decorative embellishment, and this sits on top of the shoe material.

A piece of jewelry with a metal bar and one or more pointed attachments. This is usually a sash or buckle, as the pointed end punctures the ribbon. Sometimes these pieces are decorative and actually don't puncture the ribbon, but allow the ribbon to weave through the design or else are decorative.

Two pieces of jewelry, with one piece having a clasp, and the other a catch. The jewelry attaches to the ribbon via sewing the jewelry onto textile. This can be a muddy area, with the jewelry either being a cape clasp or a buckle. For the sake of this thread, we'll define this item as a cape clasp and I will show you a few varations at the end of the yearly pictorial definitions.

A hat buckle, used for embellishment can be any of these items. Sample hat buckles will be shown later in this thread.

How many did you get right?

So, let's try something a little harder. Below is a Victorian Cloisonne Belt. How many ways can you tell it's a Victorian Belt?

Here's a picture of the back which might help you....see anything interesting? What do you see behind the other two buckle backs?

Here's what I see:

Victorian Cloisonne Belt:
1) The first clue I had this is Victorian is the metal settings of the colored glass. With so many teeth holding the cut glass embellishment, this tells me that this is a fine piece of jewelry and that this is typical of the era = excess of design.
2) The second clue I had that this is Victorian is the overlapping cloisonne pieces. Nicely done artwork, overlapping pieces of cloisonne, and the repetitive design in a floral manner - all high Victorian.
3) The third clue I had is on the back. Did you notice the back was as finely finished with engraving as the front was beautiful?
4) The fourth clue I had was the threads which basted the folded back belting. If you look carefully, you will see brown whipstiches (hard to see in the photo provided). But the thread is period correct, as is the color.
5) The black belting is correct for being Victorian.
6) The clasp on the belt is a much poorer quality than the front. This tells me the front was most likely an import, and the back was correct for multi-periods, but I assume the two pieces were put together at an import house.

What do you see for the clasp on the left?

If you look carefully, you will see that there are two loops which were sautered on the back of the metal. This was my key indicator that the left hand buckle set was in fact a clasp. You see, the loops are standard for attaching to the outside of a garment, so that the metal pieces stand away from the material. Therefore, the major indicator for this jewelry is the loops on the back, which tell how the piece was used. This was a combination of metallurgy and embellishment for determining the usage of this piece.

What do you see for the buckle on the right?

The buckle on the right has a cut brass clasp, one of two parts. This says that it's an actual buckle, not a different type of fashion accessory. By noting the pins holding the brass to the mother of pearl, it confirms the age of the piece. This piece could be as early as the late 1800's to as late as the 1920's, based on the brass on the back of the piece, its form and design. Therefore, metallurgy was the major deciding factor in how this piece was determined.

 

[Vintage Betty]

The 1920's - Flappers!

People who are familiar with the flapper image only imagine that there is one type of belt available to women of this era: beaded, on the hips with more strings of beads swinging from the hips.

The reality is quite different.

These are just a few sample belts and buckles from the era, ranging from simple ribbons to buckles. What makes the fabric belts so interesting is that two of the three are not straight, they have a varigated pattern with hills and valleys, directly imitating the leather buckle below. There is no indication on any of these three belts that a buckle was used. If you look very carefully at the middle ribbon, you can even see the textile changing its width from top to bottom.

The small sets of round clasps can be 1920's or older, but I believe they are 1920's because of the subtlety of design, without the refinement of metal or rhinestones I often see in 1930's pieces.

The elongated rhinestone piece with the metal bar is certainly 1920's,. The reason for my belief of the age of the piece is the simple rhinestone setting, but the metal bar on the back is rather crude, again not showing the refinement of the 1930's precision.

The cut mother of pearl single buckle could actually be as old as Victorian, or later. These types of buckles were used liberally on everything from doll clothes, to children's clothes to hats. These are great starting pieces for a new collector, as they are easy to find and quite inexpensive.

I'm not certainly convinced that the gold buckle is 1920's; the back doesn't seem rough enough, though the design and metal mimics this period. It might be an imposter of a later period.

The final set of two pieces are quite a mystery; these could be a set from the 1920's or 1930's. I would have guessed 1930's due to the design on the front, but again, the back catches appear to be earlier in design, so I grouped this set with the 1920's pieces.

 

[Vintage Betty]

The 1930's - Deco Era

 

[Vintage Betty]

The 1940's - Wartime

 

[Vintage Betty]

The 1950's - Swingtime

 

[Vintage Betty]

The 1960's - Hippie Era

 

[Vintage Betty]

The 1970's - Disco