The Perfect Belt

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Welcome to the latest series here on TGC: Dress the Part. Being geeks, we're all so picky and precise about almost everything that we do. Everything, it seems, but the way we dress. It's no one's fault, but it just seems to be the way things are. This series will teach you how to dress properly, look great and professional (and better, unfortunately, than most people these days), without spending a ton of money doing it. The goal is for you to put the same "geek mentality" into how you dress as you do into everything else so that you can "Dress the Part".

Disclaimer: This series is going to be about men's style. I wouldn't even begin to claim that I know anything about women's style, so to all you female readers out there, I apologize, but this new series is not for you.

Basic leather belt | Gap - $29.99 ($21 with code GAPFRIENDS, ends 3/11/12)

I thought, for the first post in this series, we should start with something real simple. We'll have plenty of time in the future to go over why one should take care in the way they dress, as well as how I got interested in men's style. But for now, we'll keep it real simple.

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The belt. You'll want this one from Gap. It's just the right thickness, has a great buckle, and lasts for years with little sign of wear. There's a reason why this belt has been sold by Gap for so long. It's the best wear-with-slacks-or-jeans-or-most-anything-that's-semi-casual belt that money can buy.

I know it's a bit on the pricey side for a strip of leather, but with the current promotion Gap is running, it drops the price down to just $21 when you use the code GAPFRIENDS (ends 3/11). Still expensive, but certainly more reasonable.

The belt comes in black or brown, and there are two things you should remember when you buy a belt:

  1. You should roughly match your belt to your shoes. That doesn't mean the precise shade must be the same, but a brown belt with brown shoes, and a black belt with black shoes. So buy the color belt that will match more of your shoes.
  2. Size up an inch. If your waist size is 31 (like mine is), buy a size 32 belt. You'll want a tad bit of extra room, but not too much.