Belt
A flexible or rigid string, manufactured in different materials, such as leather and suede, and in a varnish, or fabric, or metal. Worn tight around the waist to make it thinner, or loose on the hips to support a billowy and blousing top, a belt either wraps around clothes or makes them tighter. Sometimes it is sewn within the dress, or else threaded through belt loops. Of very ancient origin, it is perhaps the oldest decoration about which there is any information. Some clues date it to the bronze age. It is like a jewelled decoration for ladies in medieval castles, and was often a small cord loose on the hips during the 14th century. In the 1500s people had a habit of hanging small objects such as keys, mirrors, and tiny scissors from it. Over time it underwent several evolutions and took on different meanings, many of them symbolic. For example, during the Middle Ages its use was forbidden to ladies of the court. From the 1700s up to the 1920s belts were often embellished with ribbons and decorated buckles, which could be varied according to the color and fabric of the dress. It became a necessary accessory for men’s clothing, in which it replaced suspenders, and a more and more noticeable ornament on ladies’ outfits. Among the famous styles of belts is the chatelaine, a chain belt that is worn on soft and smooth sheath dresses, or, almost a jewel, on a more casual tweed suit. The hzam is the belt that women in Morocco wear with caftans as a precious ornament embroidered with both gold and colored thread; it is more a bodice than a belt. The Japanese obi is a belt-broad sash, a foot wide and four feet long, often made in richly embroidered silk. In the Japanese tradition there are many ways of knotting and wrapping it high around the waist, and these take on different meanings which are passed on from mother to daughter. The obi is often seen in the models of various western designers.