Ask the expert: can I wear flashy belts to the office?

What are the style rules for office-wear belts? I see people with flashy buckles, belts with elaborate designs and in all kinds of materials.

The right style for wearing belts in an office environment is quite subjective.

Belts are essentially worn to keep the position of the trousers on the waist intact. But apart from this functional aspect, belts have increasingly been used as an expression of one’s personality.

A conservative executive office environment will probably see a lot of people wearing subtle designs to go with the serious nature of the workplace. But people also have individual aesthetic tastes that they exercise to express themselves, and they don’t always wish to conform to the expected norms of other people.

While minimalism is a beautiful expression of respecting an executive work environment, everyone would like to establish their own identity within their individual workplaces.

For instance, media professionals and those in other creative industries take the liberty of aligning their creativity with their appearance.

So an appreciation of different metals for belt buckles along with elaborate designs for them becomes a form of professional and personal expression.

Another expressive way to display sartorial taste would be to wear trousers with no belts but with braces. These would still offer the functional reason for wearing belts, but with a strong visual expression.

A new wave of appreciation for functional minimalism in an executive environment can be seen with a lot of people opting now for the no-belt look. This means wearing trousers with no belt loops but with either side buckle fasteners or button fasteners. The side fasteners would help to fasten and loosen the waistband marginally.

You can also opt for bespoke trousers, which are cut with the right waist size and thus eliminates the functional reason for having belts.

Style is personal and if one can align it to their innate personality it establishes one’s identity.

A gentleman will always try to discover his personal style, all the while respecting that of others.