A Little History About Mens Belts
Mens belts have been around since the Bronze Age, later on they were used by women as well but mainly for fashion. During the 19th century, belts were made fashionable by the military and were worn strictly as a decorative part of the uniform. Thanks to the Eastern European armed forces such as Crimea and Prussia, it was standard for officers to wear tight wide belts around the outer coat of their uniforms. This was done to bring in the waistline, thus giving the soldier a slim statuesque physique.
During the 1920s fashion designers began to make men’s trousers that fell low on the waistline. This is the time period when belts became more of a must in order to keep the trousers up. Once the new fashion design caught on among men it also ended the era when belts were worn for fashion purposes only.
Today, belts for men come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes, and they are used for several purposes. For example there are specialized utility belts such as a police duty belt, which has pockets and loops for carrying job related equipment. This type of belt is also used by repair personnel, construction workers, and soldiers for their equipment and utilities.
In certain cultures a mens belt can symbolize status, for example in martial arts the color of a belt can indicate such things as rank or a skill level. Among rodeo cowboys, mens leather belts are a symbol of manhood. The same applies with mens leather belts among some African cultures such as the Moors. The different emblems and notches on the belts of the Moorish people stood for various things such as bravery, manhood, and even identified which tribe they were from.
Mens leather belts were commonly used among the Native American cultures to symbolize manhood, rank, and bravery. Even to this day many Native American cultures still use the leather belt as part of their dress regalia during their ceremonies.
What about the shoestring belt buckle? That was not a misprint. Shoestring belt buckles have been fashionable among skateboarders who discovered that the traditional buckle on belts would dig into their stomachs when trying to skate and do various tricks. The shoelace was found to be more flexible, as well as fashionable.
Although it is unpredictable to say what the future of mens belts has in store, it can be guaranteed that it will be innovative and exciting. Rumor has it in the fashion world that companies are already designing an iPhone belt buckle that is sure to be a hit among the technology enthusiasts.
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