work clothes with cop belt?

[dutchguy]

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. Ok sometimes I wear a military or police belt within my belt loops, however if you want to put any pouches on your belt this would be very impractical.
The cops wear their belts over a regular pants belt, so that all the stuff on the belt is easily reachable and you don't have to remove all the pouches when you change pants.
I copied this idea from the cops: I like it when I have some of my tools such as a flashlight and a multitool readily available. I used to put some stuff in my pockets, my pockets were overfilled and I would loose quite a few items this way. I do carry a toolbag, but not every minute of the day. So for me this is a perfect solution to carry some basic items. Additionally I do like the look of a police belt, but this might sound odd to some other people. However combining such a belt with the rest of my clothes seems to be difficult:
Personally I like plain coloured military style shirts, I am more kind of an outdoor person and don't walk around in formal clothes to often. However if I wear a blue shirt in combination with this belt, yes I am associated with a cop or security guy, not sure if this is acceptable or not. Maybe a different color shirt works better? I have some military style shirts in white, tan and lightgreen.
Wearing this belt in combination with polo's or branded shirts also looks odd to me. I think the belt would look out of proportion this way and simply doesn't match with that combination. Yes, they were designed for military and police, even as dress belts, for plain colour uniforms. I also tend to wear a shirt that matches my belt and that fits the combination, probably a more military/outdoor look. However I am not a cop (used to be one in the past)nor a military officer, so it needs to be something that is accepted as casual and doesn't stun people or scare them away.
I simply do appreciate the practical comfort and look of this belt so would like to wear it for work, as far as appropriate.

 

[mrchapel]

stach Equipment belts are not made to be threaded into loops, because then you would have to thread the pouches onto the belt each time you put the belt into pants. Cops usually wear a leather barracks belt to hold up their pants.

Yes, I am aware. In my profession in law enforcement, I am well aware. However, I have seen people wear the Sam Browne belts (the large belt that snaps onto the smaller belt and holds the equipment holsters) with a military jacket, jeans, and some Chelsea boots. Not my favorite look; in fact I think it looks ridiculous, but I get the feeling from the OP that he isn't likely to detract from wearing large belts.

 

[Goblin]

No offense, but to me this is a bit like asking how to integrate a fireman's hat into one's daily wardrobe. There are things one could do to make a fireman's hat look marginally more appropriate, but the fact remains that it's going to look a bit bizarre unless you're a fireman.

 

[dutchguy]

So why do you think it looks odd or silly? Because is out of proportion / too big or because it is associated with a police officer?
Talking about wide belts, in ancient times men were also wearing big belts.
Nowadays you also see at lot of women wearing 3 inch wide belts, where most of the time those have no function at all, not even to hold up pants.

Combining certain parts of military gear with civilian clothes seems to be acceptable nowadays. A lot of guys wear for example military pants or military boots for work or outdoor, at least here in the Netherlands. So where is the limit what is acceptable or not??

As far as wearing a police belt with civies, this seems to be more eccentric.
I like the functionality and the look of the belt, it looks different than what the mass wears and what you can buy in every retail store. Recently a police friend advised me that a police belt with civies would not look appropriate. When I asked him about the belt he wore, he said he really liked the look of the wide belt with his uniform and wouldnt wear a different one, but that it is something preserved for police officers. Some other people though also think it is quite a good solution and no problem.
Personally I like to combine civilian clothes with some military components, this i my style, and distinguishes me probably from the majority.
Although I am probably not going to be detracted of wearing a sam browne belt, I really appreciate all your input in this discussion!

 

[stach]

So let's close this topic.