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Belt matching dilemma

DSKent

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Bought a new pair of shoes this weekend, a dark brown pair of Gucci loafers with brass hardware (can be seen here). Â However, a trip out to my local NM and Saks yielded no matching belts except one ugly Ferragamo one. Â It's tricky because (a) they're so dark and (b) the gold color. Â I thought I used to see gold/brown belts everywhere, but even the big department stores like Macys had nothing. Â Not even a decent reversible with an all-gold buckle (they had plenty of mixed silver and gold, which looked bad). Â If anyone knows of a place I can get a dark brown/gold belt that would match these shoes, either online or at a store, please let me know. Thanks in advance.
 

Duveen

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On the less-expensive front, I recently bought a Trafalgar belt with buckles that can be switched.  Mine has a silver and a brass buckle.  I am fairly confident that the color of both belt strap and the brass buckle would match the shoes you show.

I purchased it at Filene's Basement in DC for a song, but I am sure that one can be had from a 'normal' Trafalgar vendor.  Allen Edmonds also sells belt straps that allow the owner to switch buckles, those come standard with brass and silver-colored buckles.
 

A Harris

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I second the Trafalgar idea - they are available online, run a google search. I bought them in black, dark brown, burgandy and cognac and they are still going strong after 4 years of daily wear.
 

montecristo#4

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I think Trafalgar belts are probably the best value belts out there. Even if you pay full retail, they are nicer than belts you can get at Coach for twice the money. On the downside, their styles are pretty mundane (actually, to me this is a good thing), and they are more on the dressy end of thing--mpost of their belts wouldn't go with jeans.
 

A Harris

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The model I buy is the "Cortina 1 1/8" W." I vastly prefer belts with a stitched edge as laminated always look cheap to me for some reason.
 

LA Guy

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Trafalgar belts are a terrific basic. They are nearly completely unsuitable for casualwear unless you are on the verge of being eligible for the seniors' discount, and I've never seen a Trafalgar belt with any wow factor whatsoever; but for basic dress belts, you can't beat the quality and price.
 

A Harris

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I figured you would weigh in on this LA Guy :)

Good point - they are casual Gucci loafers so perhaps you would be better off with a more versatile belt. If you can find them at discount, Longhi makes some great belts.
 

VMan

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I'm going to have to interject against the points made that Trafalgar belts cannot be worn casually. Â Please find two examples below.
black_traf.jpg
Black leather with tooled floral/leaf design. Â I wear this one five times a week with jeans. Â I like the design, it's not something one sees every day.
stripe_traf.jpg
This one I picked up at Marshall's on clearance for $1. Â I figured it would look good with a preppy outfit - light beige linen/cotton flat front pants, thin white cotton v-neck sweater with blue/white striped dress shirt underneath, blue striped belt, brown suede Magli loafers.
 

johnnynorman3

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$1. Who the hell doesn't buy that for $1... Good find, Versaceman.
 

VMan

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$1. Â Who the hell doesn't buy that for $1... Good find, Versaceman.
Thanks Johnny. Thats what I thought. I've had some awesome deals there. That black Trafalgar belt was from there as well, got that for $11 on clearance a while back. Both belts are made in the USA to boot. I love how they say "Compare at $X" on the price tags, most of the time they are way off on the prices. I've picked up several pairs of PDC jeans there at $40 each, and the tags said "Compare at $80". Yeah right, try doubling that amount. I'll throw in a photo of the 'trophy':
tag.jpg
 

johnnynorman3

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I'll second that Marshalls is WAY off on prices. I picked up a Ike Behar tie today for $5 on clearance (perfect, no snags whatsoever) that said "compare at $20." I bought it for Ebay, but my sister convinced me it was nice enough to keep. Also I picked up a Super 150s Samuelsohn suit on clearance some time ago for $135 (on clearance), which was also destined for Ebay. The tag said, "compare at $400 or more." Yeah, I think the "or more" was relevant there.
smile.gif
 

DSKent

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Thanks for all the help, the Trafalgar belts look like my best bet. I could actually use 2 dark brown belts (I have another dark brown pair of dress shoes), so I might pick up the Trafalgar to wear with the dress shoes and try to find another one for the loafers.

LabelKing: you mentioned Gucci does matching items, and I could've sworn I saw a belt to match these at NM, but alas, there wasn't one at the store (although with Last Call, there isn't much of anything) and there isn't one online. Same with Saks. Would my best bet be to phone my local Gucci boutique or is there somewhere online you think I could find it? Been working a lot of long hours and weekends lately, so I don't know if I'll have time to make it to Bal Harbour or Worth Ave. anytime soon.

Thanks again for all the helpful replies.
 

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