British Belts - Sources Needed

[Roger]

Edward Green, Crockett & Jones, JLobb, Barker's, and possibly other well-known British shoe manufacturers also make belts, although, for some reason, their belts don't appear on their websites. The advantage of these belts is that they are made in the same colors and shadings as their shoes, thus making good matching with their shoes easier than trying to match, say, a pair of EGs in that unique British color "Chestnut," for example, with an Allen-Edmonds belt. Ben Silver has C&J belts, but, as usual, their prices are very high.

Can anyone provide some sources--preferably websites where the belts could be seen--for these British-made belts? I've tried all the usual suspects (Pediwear, PLal, et al.) without success, and googling on various subject titles has, thus far, produced bupkes.

 

[Duveen]

Just write EG directly - you can buy belts that way and there are, IIRC, no minimums. Shipping can be a killer, though.

 

[aportnoy]

Roger, I was able to special order EG belts through the Saks Trunk Show at they were only $125. Let me know if I can help to get you in touch with my guy at Saks, i'm sure he's be glad to oprder anything that you want. Another benfit of this route is that you can get inbetween sizing like 31, 33 or 35 and you can chose the color of your hardware, nickel or brass.

 

[tattersall]

Roger - I ordered two from EG when Susie was in Vancouver. I'm sure a quick email to Hillary will get you sorted out. There are two widths and two choices of buckle tone. The colourways available are:
Dark Oak
Edwardian
Chestnut (I think)
Burgundy
Black
Suede (can't recall which one)

Here is a link from PLal on the C&J belts: http://www.plal.com/new/images/cj/cj0506_14.jpg which he's offering at 399 ringgits. Just a bit less than the EGs.

Edit - in typical C&J fashion, you can't customize the order - you're stuck with their choice of buckle tone for a particular shade of leather.

 

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Roger

Edward Green, Crockett & Jones, JLobb, Barker's, and possibly other well-known British shoe manufacturers also make belts, although, for some reason, their belts don't appear on their websites. The advantage of these belts is that they are made in the same colors and shadings as their shoes, thus making good matching with their shoes easier than trying to match, say, a pair of EGs in that unique British color "Chestnut," for example, with an Allen-Edmonds belt. Ben Silver has C&J belts, but, as usual, their prices are very high.

Can anyone provide some sources--preferably websites where the belts could be seen--for these British-made belts? I've tried all the usual suspects (Pediwear, PLal, et al.) without success, and googling on various subject titles has, thus far, produced bupkes.

Are you sure Plal doesn't carry C&J belts? I could have sworn Shyam said they did.

 

[aportnoy]

Originally Posted by tattersall

:
Dark Oak
Edwardian
Chestnut (I think)
Burgundy
Black
Suede (can't recall which one)

I received one in antique dark olive to match shoes that I had made up.

 

[Roger]

You guys are great; thanks for the tips. Tattersall, yeah, I knew you'd bought those belts, which was a great idea that I'd not thought of at the time of buying the shoes. Soon after getting the EGs, I e-mailed EG about belts, and got absolutely no response. This hacked me off, and I didn't pursue the matter--although I probably should have. I'll have to try again--either directly or via Andrew's suggestion. I didn't know that PLal had belts, so that too is a big help.

As for buckle tone, I have, for some time now, bought belts one size too large, and then had them cut down so that the prong goes precisely in the middle hole when the belt is at the right tension. (I admit that the thought of cutting up a beautiful EG belt might cause some queasiness--maybe even nausea or severe muscle tremors--for some.) I also have the cobbler fashion a snap end so that I can alternate between silver- and gold-tone buckles. I've been able to build up a supply of both tones of buckles in 1 1/8", 1 1/4", and 1 3/8" widths. (Tattersall, Parson's Shoe Repair in the Bentall Center have done all this for me and have done a really beautiful job in all cases.) Most of my dress belts are Allen-Edmonds or Crookhorn (who used to make A-E belts), and these normally come in the standard 1 1/8" or 1 1/4" widths. I'm now wondering whether the British belts like EG and C&J do so also.

 

[tattersall]

Originally Posted by Roger

You guys are great; thanks for the tips. Tattersall, yeah, I knew you'd bought those belts, which was a great idea that I'd not thought of at the time of buying the shoes. Soon after getting the EGs, I e-mailed EG about belts, and got absolutely no response. This hacked me off, and I didn't pursue the matter--although I probably should have. I'll have to try again--either directly or via Andrew's suggestion. I didn't know that PLal had belts, so that too is a big help.

As for buckle tone, I have, for some time now, bought belts one size too large, and then had them cut down so that the prong goes precisely in the middle hole when the belt is at the right tension. (I admit that the thought of cutting up a beautiful EG belt might cause some queasiness--maybe even nausea or severe muscle tremors--for some.) I also have the cobbler fashion a snap end so that I can alternate between silver- and gold-tone buckles. I've been able to build up a supply of both tones of buckles in 1 1/8", 1 1/4", and 1 3/8" widths. (Tattersall, Parson's Shoe Repair in the Bentall Center have done all this for me and have done a really beautiful job in all cases.) Most of my dress belts are Allen-Edmonds or Crookhorn (who used to make A-E belts), and these normally come in the standard 1 1/8" or 1 1/4" widths. I'm now wondering whether the British belts like EG and C&J do so also.

Those are the two widths that EG offers (I bought the wider ones). The buckles are not stitched on - rather than a snap, there are two flat screws that secure the buckle to the strap. Thanks for the tip on Parson's, I'll keep that name on file. EG will size the belt to what you ask so no need to have it cut down.