Should I wear a waist belt?

Plushpenguin

Last question, promise:) I have a very small waist and I love to accentuate it, but too many times I have heard that short waisted women and women with pear shapes should not wear waist belts. Most go as far as saying that women like me should not accentuate their natural waist at all, and instead choose only loosely body skimming skirts and tops, or empire waists. Usually they recommend loose thin chain belts hung just below the natural waist if you absolutely must draw attention to that area. In the last question I asked I mentioned that "The Body Shape Bible" shows a shirtdress with a wide leather belt worn around the waist as a suggested outfit for my shape, the "bell". I love the look but I just don't know how to pull it off? Is it really so bad for a women with my body shape to accentuate her natural waist? Is there any other way I can strongly accentuate it, or should I just get used to skimming over my best feature for the sake of achieving balance?

17 years ago

Dressing

9 replies

Latest reply was from Plushpenguin

Plushpenguin

Active Member

Hey, I just noticed that the "the pretty pear" says "Consider wearing a waist belt over your tops for extra definition. Wear your belt a little lower if you’re short-waisted." I'm a little confused by this though. I'm worried that a belt worn this way might create a drop waist effect, and drop waists are so unflattering on pear shapes. Also this pretty much rules out belts that aren't built into the outfit unless it has drop waist belt loops or you decide to wear a loose chain belt on a slant. What do you think?

17 years ago

Plushpenguin

Active Member

Angie, I just wanna add that "the pretty pear" was really really helpful. Thanks!:)

17 years ago

Plushpenguin

Active Member

This is my last response to my own post, really:) Angie, I noticed that you make a distinction between "short in the rise" and short-waisted. Thank God! Everyone else just lumps the two together. Yet another reason why I love your site. Anyway, If you define short waisted as having legs longer than your torso, then I am short waisted, but not because my rib cage is short (the normal definition of short waisted) but because there's almost no space between the bottom of my rib cage and my hip bones. I'm also quite short in the rise, giving me an even shorter torso in relation to my legs. It's pretty uncommon and a pain to fit.

17 years ago

mayapple

Active Member

I, like you, am short-waisted with a smaller waist. I was able to wear a wide belt with a knot-front jersey dress to an 80's party I went to a few weeks ago and I actually rather liked it.

Most of the time I have trouble with belts though. I think as a short-waisted person, thin belts might be best. We just don't have as much "space" for a wide belt to sit as long-waisted women do, so a narrower belt that sits snugly in the crook of the waist is probably the best way to go. I thought the same thing as you when I read about hip-slung belts, and I definitely wouldn't go that route.

I think it's best to just find different ways to accent the waist. Wrap tops, shirts with darts, tie-back tops, and empire tops (without gathers) all do the same job. A belt isn't the only way, but if you're set on it, I'd look for a thin belt.

17 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

You can ask as many questions as you have desire for plushpenguin. That’s why this forum was created 

Mayapple has hit the nail on the head and her advice is spot on. You absolutely need to continue showing off your best feature, which is your tiny waist irrespective of whether you are short waisted or not. You can wear a waist cinching belt as well, but it might mean that you look better with a narrower belt than a wider one. Perhaps a skinny waist cinching belt is the answer. Wearing an elongating neckline with the look might also help, like a V-neck, cowl neck or scooped neck. This will help draw the eye up and down. And so will wearing some sort of heel. Let us know if this look works better for you.

I’m glad you found the guidelines to the pretty pear helpful and it sounds like Mayapple is completely in tune with her own proportions!

17 years ago

Plushpenguin

Active Member

Thanks everyone! I agree with what you said. I think the key to wearing a waist belt will be to wear it with a dress that has a a slightly full skirt. What I have to hide is how strangely low on my torso and close to my hips my waist seems. Covering my hips should take
care of that problem. I won't ever be able to wear it over a shirt thought. Seriously, the belt would land like two inches from the bottom of my top, it's weird. Collarless shirt dress and platform boots, that's my plan.

17 years ago

Eva

Active Member

Plushpenguin, I say wear the waist belt! I love the waist belt. It is one of my favorite looks. It sounds like I am also similar to you. I am a small waisted, petite pear that is short in the rise. I wear my 2 inch belt with sweaters over slacks or skirts. (The slacks need to be higher in the rise than my low rise jeans or I see a bit of a bulge on the 5 pounds I keep meaning to lose.) I put my belt a or slightly higher than my natural waist.

Clinton Kelly talked about belts in a Macy's ad and said that the belt should be in proportion to your size. Therefore, the shorter you are the smaller the belt. Maybe I should have got a 1 or 1 1/2 inch belt, but a 3 inch would definitely be too big.

17 years ago

Kasmira

(website)

Active Member

I am a huge belt fan! I have a short torso (although with enough room between my ribs and hips for a fairly wide belt) and a not too slim waist.

I like them at the waist:
http://whatiwore2day.blogspot......-chic.html
http://whatiwore2day.blogspot......aphic.html

Riding high:
http://whatiwore2day.blogspot......ngton.html
http://whatiwore2day.blogspot......day-1.html

Not so much low (the belt won't stay in place):
http://whatiwore2day.blogspot......nched.html

17 years ago

Plushpenguin

Active Member

Kasmira, even on you I really did prefer the medium width belts worn higher on the torso, especially the fourth picture. Like you said you have a lot of space for a belt though, so you can get away with a much wider range of belt styles than most people with a similar figure. Still, your pictures prove that short waisted women can afford to wear waist belts. I'm still not quite sure how it all applies to me though. I'll just have to keep trying.

17 years ago

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