I had to pack a carry on luggage to travel last week and as I couldn’t bring a lot of items with me I mainly packed good basics. I have to say that when I have to pack light, I tend to always bring good accessories with me so that I can spice up an outfit if I encounter the feeling “I brought nothing and now I have nothing to wear”. To avoid this feeling, I always have a belt as an accessory and this always work out.

Belt is an amazing garment to add to a monotone outfit to make it look more sophisticated. If you are wearing simple basics, adding a nice belt to your outfit is a tweak that will really go a step further in making your overall look more thoughtful. The reason to that is that a belt generally highlights the waist and makes the look more structured.

What is amazing with belts is their versatility, you can wear it on a trouser, on a dress or even on a jacket as I did here. Belts are rooted in elegance and classy style. Everyone really needs to collect some belts for days when you need this garment to structure your look and make it more put together.

Obviously, for a good result we need to opt for an expensive looking belt but you can literally find these in so many shops at really low price. To find expensive looking belts, three criteria should be taken into account:

1. The type of belt

You must consider the type of belts and the colour for an elegant look:

• Thin belts in brown or black colour: these are really a must-have in every woman wardrobe. You can match these good basics with almost any outfit. I choose mainly these two colours because they tend to look more expensive even if you purchase it on a budget.

• Thick belts in rafia materials in colours such as black, brown, light beige or any other colour that looks chic. The rafia belt is more appropriate for spring and summer season. It is really the perfect type of belt that can blend perfectly on a trouser or a dress and look amazing. Again for this type of belt you don’t need any big investment.

2. What to avoid buying

There are belts that are cheap looking and this regardless if they are from designer brands or any other type of brand. The cheap look is due to the details added on the belts and these generally are:

• Low quality metal or chain belts: You need to pay attention to belts made out of chain or metals because they tend to generally look cheaper if the quality is not good. Most of the time, to distinguish if a metal belt is made out of good quality, you can check its weight. Because generally talking, really slight belts are made of bad quality materials whereas those on the heavier side may be of a better quality. That’s why you should always have a look at its weight and its overall look on a clothing item.

• Over-stuffed belts: This point is not only valid for belts. Generally speaking, garments filled with many prints and decorations end up being too much and therefore look inelegant. That’s why if you want to get an expensive looking belt just avoid these over-stuffed belts because they spoil your appearance. Always keep in mind that less is more.

• Belts with big logos on it: That is another consideration to pay attention too because big logos made out of gold metals or any other materials really look cheap. You don’t need a logo to close your belt, a simple closing will be way better. Logo are generally there to show the brand’s name and to look expensive on the contrary we don’t wish to show off brand names.

3. Where to shop on a budget for quality and expensive looking belts

Finally, you might be wondering where you can find these expensive looking belts that are as good looking as designer brands belts, so here’s the answer. I listed these brands that so far have provided really elegant and all the items I am talking about are shown below the list.

• Ralph Lauren provides good belts at reasonable price that are kind of having similar style to the Hermes one. Mine as an example is from Ralph Lauren from the previous collection and I really like the quality and overall look of it.

• Reiss also provides amazing belts at really good price and their style is also similar to the Buckle belt from Hermes.

• Arket is also providing really simple and classy belts at good prices that are expensive looking.

• Anthropolgie for what concerns the bigger belts in Rafia proposes nice simple models that look quite elegant and are perfect for the summer season. I attached their models to show an example of what to purchase but honestly any brand selling similar model can really make the deal.

I hope this will help you purchase a nice belt that will last you for a long time. All the belts type I recommended above are shown below.

Xxx