Why spend a lot on a belt? All belts look the same to me.

[OttoSkadelig]

Originally Posted by holymadness

In 100% agreement with the OP. I have belts that retail for between $30 and $250 and I cannot discern any significant difference in quality between them that would justify the enormous difference in price. Nor is there any true visible difference. You are paying the luxury markup for the brand name, as usual. Those that say you can't buy a high-quality belt for little money are liars or fools; you can buy Crockett & Jones belts for less than €75 in the boutique, for example. Those who think it's classy to display "subtle logos" are just plain tards. You may as well stitch a Nike logo to your clothes. Same thing. Those who think funky braided leather designs by Paul Smith or the H-shaped Hermes buckle are classy and stylish are either tasteless drones or nouveau-riche Russian gang members, because those are the only two demographics who buy that sort of chintzy garbage. I'd wear a $10 Walmart belt before ever putting on anything so repellant. OP, in the end, 90% of SF members are just brand-name whores. You are on the right track; ignore the 'advice' in this thread at all costs.
my eloquent but obnoxious and graceless friend, you, sir, are wrong. i, too, have owned my share of cheap belts, so i speak from experience. let me list the litany of things that has befellen then. - leather scuffs easily and looks like rubbish in a short space of time; high susceptibility to scratches and in particular the color wearing off the edges of the belt - leather that doesn't take kindly to extreme curvature (e.g., when you roll it up to pack it in a suitcase) -- with visible creases that form and remain forever etched into the leather, eventually turning into hairline cracks -- like you see in a cheap shoe made of cheap, hard leather that can't flex without being marked for life - leather that after a year of intensive wear has started to separate into more layers than a club sandwich - "leather" that feels more like hard, rubberized silicone than a natural product, and that goes around your waist like an unyielding plastic girdle with a mind of its own rather than something that naturally follows your contours - buckles with cheap, thin coating that picks up all manner of scratches, scuffs, or where the coating just plain chips off, exposing an underbelly that is a very different animal than the thing you thought you were buying - buckles that have completely BROKEN OFF after a month (!) due to cheap and brittle materials and manufacturing process need i go on? the point is not whether people are buying good belts to satisfy their internal brand whore (although i'm sure such people exist). and more importantly, the point is not whether or not a cheap belt will look orders of magnitude worse than a good one AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. it's how it holds up OVER TIME that marks a good one from a cheap and bad one. kapish?

 

[holymadness]

Originally Posted by OttoSkadelig

i, too, have owned my share of cheap belts, so i speak from experience. let me list the litany of things that has befellen then.

- leather scuffs easily and looks like rubbish in a short space of time; high susceptibility to scratches and in particular the color wearing off the edges of the belt
- leather that doesn't take kindly to extreme curvature (e.g., when you roll it up to pack it in a suitcase) -- with visible creases that form and remain forever etched into the leather, eventually turning into hairline cracks -- like you see in a cheap shoe made of cheap, hard leather that can't flex without being marked for life
- leather that after a year of intensive wear has started to separate into more layers than a club sandwich
- "leather" that feels more like hard, rubberized silicone than a natural product, and that goes around your waist like an unyielding plastic girdle with a mind of its own rather than something that naturally follows your contours
- buckles with cheap, thin coating that picks up all manner of scratches, scuffs, or where the coating just plain chips off, exposing an underbelly that is a very different animal than the thing you thought you were buying
- buckles that have completely BROKEN OFF after a month (!) due to cheap and brittle materials and manufacturing process

You must have very bad luck. I have been wearing the same $30 belt from banana republic 2-3 days a week for about 2 years now and it's held up perfectly. A $40 polo belt for a more or less equal amount of time without issues. I even have a belt that was made for me in Strasbourg of quite obviously low-quality leather (I paid €35, I think), but which has none of the issues you've mentioned. You realize also that you can apply cream and polish to belts the same way you can shoes in order to restore suppleness, shine, and colour?

In any case, I'm not advocating that you spend the least possible amount of money on a belt. But beyond a certain threshold, the returns are very diminishing. Much more so than in the case of a shoe, where comfort and resistance to wear are of prime importance.

 

[Castle]

A belt isn't overly important to me but I believe it can compliment an outfit very well. I like the Andersons one. . still I can't even justify thr £60 RRP for one of them, never mind some of the prices previously said. I got a TukTuk Woven belt for £20 the other week, does the job. The dark brown one.

 

[OttoSkadelig]

Originally Posted by holymadness

You must have very bad luck. I have been wearing the same $30 belt from banana republic 2-3 days a week for about 2 years now and it's held up perfectly. A $40 polo belt for a more or less equal amount of time without issues. I even have a belt that was made for me in Strasbourg of quite obviously low-quality leather (I paid €35, I think), but which has none of the issues you've mentioned. You realize also that you can apply cream and polish to belts the same way you can shoes in order to restore suppleness, shine, and colour?

yes, but why polish a turd? the dollar value of my time hunched over trying to add lustre to a piece of crap exceeds the incremental cost of investing in a nice belt that takes care of itself.

i have two BR belts. both of them have gotten way more scuffs than my nicer belts. the leather is OK but clearly nowhere near as good as my nicer belts. they are now relegated to casual wear. my testoni, d'amico, and RLPL belts have, on the other hand, behaved fantastically well over a long period of time and are worth every cent. and BTW, none of them is outlandishly expensive or has russian gangster brand ostentation.

agree on the steeply diminishing returns thing. a point i think i made previously.

 

[clockwise]

Originally Posted by holymadness

I have been wearing the same $30 belt from banana republic 2-3 days a week for about 2 years now and it's held up perfectly.

It is a very good outcome and I am sure the belt serves its intended purpose. You are obviously not very demanding when it comes to belts. You may also wear a quartz watch? Decent $5 socks that holds up well for 2 years as long as you have enough pairs in the rotation?

None of my belts have brand name logos to distinguish them from no-logo $30 belts. I am wearing a brown croc belt from testoni right now and can only find a minuscule "a.testoni" lettering on the edge of the simple buckle. Maybe smaller than your proud banana republic mark? My satisfaction in owning and handling a good belt is in the feeling of material quality, high workmanship and durability. Please exuse the Russian accent.

 

[clockwise]

Originally Posted by OttoSkadelig

my eloquent but obnoxious and graceless friend,

you, sir, are wrong.

i, too, have owned my share of cheap belts, so i speak from experience. let me list the litany of things that has befellen then.

- leather scuffs easily and looks like rubbish in a short space of time; high susceptibility to scratches and in particular the color wearing off the edges of the belt
- leather that doesn't take kindly to extreme curvature (e.g., when you roll it up to pack it in a suitcase) -- with visible creases that form and remain forever etched into the leather, eventually turning into hairline cracks -- like you see in a cheap shoe made of cheap, hard leather that can't flex without being marked for life
- leather that after a year of intensive wear has started to separate into more layers than a club sandwich
- "leather" that feels more like hard, rubberized silicone than a natural product, and that goes around your waist like an unyielding plastic girdle with a mind of its own rather than something that naturally follows your contours
- buckles with cheap, thin coating that picks up all manner of scratches, scuffs, or where the coating just plain chips off, exposing an underbelly that is a very different animal than the thing you thought you were buying
- buckles that have completely BROKEN OFF after a month (!) due to cheap and brittle materials and manufacturing process

need i go on?

the point is not whether people are buying good belts to satisfy their internal brand whore (although i'm sure such people exist). and more importantly, the point is not whether or not a cheap belt will look orders of magnitude worse than a good one AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. it's how it holds up OVER TIME that marks a good one from a cheap and bad one.

kapish?

Good summary. I especially notice the easy scuffing and tendency to crack.

The first impression of a mass produced "thing", completely without soul, will usually make me avoid the mistake of buying "bargains".

 

[clockwise]

Originally Posted by holymadness

Those that say you can't buy a high-quality belt for little money are liars or fools

Maybe even lying fools and directors of large and evil luxury belt corporations.

 

[culverwood]

I have always liked Leyva belts decent quality and fair price. http://www.aleyva.es/aleyva_ingles/hombre.html

 

[P-K-L]

I unfortunately love exotic leathers too much...

 

[Equus Leather]

Originally Posted by holymadness

In 100% agreement with the OP. I have belts that retail for between $30 and $250 and I cannot discern any significant difference in quality between them that would justify the enormous difference in price. Nor is there any true visible difference. You are paying the luxury markup for the brand name, as usual.

Those that say you can't buy a high-quality belt for little money are liars or fools; you can buy Crockett & Jones belts for less than €75 in the boutique, for example.


I think the stuff we make is broadly in the centre of this discussion, but I though I should add my 2 pence!

The fact that belts of $30 and $250 have no discernable difference in quality is, imho, testament to the crap quality that both retail chains and designers are flagrantly selling to people whilst pointing and laughing that people will buy it. This in its self is not an argument for not buying expensive belts, its an argument for not buying crap belts from tat merchants. Its a shame these days that so many of the "top end" designers fall into the tat merchant bracket for anything outside of their core products.

We make what I think are good value products. Our most expensive belt is c. £100, so $145 US, which is fully lined and raised and involves an awful lot of time to make and a lot of very expensive leather. Not to everybodys taste I'm sure, and there for those who value hand crafting and having something special. However our standard belts are still totally handmade of the same leather and are around £35 - $50 and I defy anyone holding one in their hand to not see the huge jump in quality over a Walmart special or even a far more expensive designer brand with a bling buckle. To me one has to shop smarter and not be convinced by the big design houses that crap quality is acceptable. It isnt, and shouldnt be and quality can be had for a reasonable price, even though that may still be more than some will spend.

I thought I should defend the honour of decent beltmakers....

Charlie

 

[holymadness]

Originally Posted by Equus Leather

I think the stuff we make is broadly in the centre of this discussion, but I though I should add my 2 pence!

The fact that belts of $30 and $250 have no discernable difference in quality is, imho, testament to the crap quality that both retail chains and designers are flagrantly selling to people whilst pointing and laughing that people will buy it. This in its self is not an argument for not buying expensive belts, its an argument for not buying crap belts from tat merchants. Its a shame these days that so many of the "top end" designers fall into the tat merchant bracket for anything outside of their core products.

We make what I think are good value products. Our most expensive belt is c. £100, so $145 US, which is fully lined and raised and involves an awful lot of time to make and a lot of very expensive leather. Not to everybodys taste I'm sure, and there for those who value hand crafting and having something special. However our standard belts are still totally handmade of the same leather and are around £35 - $50 and I defy anyone holding one in their hand to not see the huge jump in quality over a Walmart special or even a far more expensive designer brand with a bling buckle. To me one has to shop smarter and not be convinced by the big design houses that crap quality is acceptable. It isnt, and shouldnt be and quality can be had for a reasonable price, even though that may still be more than some will spend.

I thought I should defend the honour of decent beltmakers....

Charlie

Couldn't agree more. I hate nothing more than a complete disconnect between price and quality.

 

[beerbudget]

Originally Posted by OttoSkadelig

my eloquent but obnoxious and graceless friend,

you, sir, are wrong.

i, too, have owned my share of cheap belts, so i speak from experience. let me list the litany of things that has befellen then.

- leather scuffs easily and looks like rubbish in a short space of time; high susceptibility to scratches and in particular the color wearing off the edges of the belt
- leather that doesn't take kindly to extreme curvature (e.g., when you roll it up to pack it in a suitcase) -- with visible creases that form and remain forever etched into the leather, eventually turning into hairline cracks -- like you see in a cheap shoe made of cheap, hard leather that can't flex without being marked for life
- leather that after a year of intensive wear has started to separate into more layers than a club sandwich
- "leather" that feels more like hard, rubberized silicone than a natural product, and that goes around your waist like an unyielding plastic girdle with a mind of its own rather than something that naturally follows your contours
- buckles with cheap, thin coating that picks up all manner of scratches, scuffs, or where the coating just plain chips off, exposing an underbelly that is a very different animal than the thing you thought you were buying
- buckles that have completely BROKEN OFF after a month (!) due to cheap and brittle materials and manufacturing process

need i go on?

the point is not whether people are buying good belts to satisfy their internal brand whore (although i'm sure such people exist). and more importantly, the point is not whether or not a cheap belt will look orders of magnitude worse than a good one AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. it's how it holds up OVER TIME that marks a good one from a cheap and bad one.

kapish?

Excellent summary. Buy a poor quality belt and it will look crap after 50 wears or so. Buy a quality belt and it will still look good with 5 or 10 times the wears. A similar anology with shoes, you might pay 5 times the price but end up with 10 times the wear, plus better looks, comfort etc.

 

[Equus Leather]

Originally Posted by beerbudget

Excellent summary. Buy a poor quality belt and it will look crap after 50 wears or so. Buy a quality belt and it will still look good with 5 or 10 times the wears. A similar anology with shoes, you might pay 5 times the price but end up with 10 times the wear, plus better looks, comfort etc.

This is correct in all aspects, but I would extend it further to say a good belt will look even better the longer you have it. Good leather matures, rubbish leather just looks more rubish and falls to bits.

 

[clockwise]

Originally Posted by Equus Leather

We make what I think are good value products. Our most expensive belt is c. £100, so $145 US, which is fully lined and raised and involves an awful lot of time to make and a lot of very expensive leather. Not to everybodys taste I'm sure, and there for those who value hand crafting and having something special.

Interesting, I looked at your website and now I want to try your fully lined and raised top end product. Will place an order, await receipt, start to wear and report back in the same thread. Nothing beats empirical research.

 

[Equus Leather]

Originally Posted by clockwise

Interesting, I looked at your website and now I want to try your fully lined and raised top end product. Will place an order, await receipt, start to wear and report back in the same thread. Nothing beats empirical research.

Indeed! I genuinely believe that one of our belts (or one from the small number of quality makers around, in the spirit of balance) will stand up with the likes of Hermes and LV and be both better quality and value. I am a passionate believer we need to move away from the era of mass produced rubbish we are in and back to quality goods from specialists who care about what they make, be they cobblers, tailors, saddlers or other disciplines. I hope one of our belts can go someway to convince other people of that as well!

Charlie