A lot of people underestimate the importance of accessories. Belts, cuff links, jewelry, ties, scarves, gloves all add that little finishing touch to your overall look that is so often overlooked. So today I’m going to kick off a Fashion Friday accessories series that begins with belts.
Formal black calves leather belt (60 pounds) and buckle (15 pounds) from Elliot Rhodes, 79 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London.
Firstly, the belt you wear with your tailored trousers or suit is NOT the belt you wear with your jeans. For a start, they are a different width. The belt pictured is 35mm which will fit most suits.
Distressed black leather belt (60 pounds) with buckle (20 pounds), Elliot Rhodes, London.
This is a 40mm width belt, so it’s a bit too big for your suit but is perfect for that pair of worn jeans you love to wear at the weekends. You can’t see from the photo but the buckle is actually made up of Chinese characters that reads “zhong guo liu xing” which means “popular China”.
中国流行 belt buckle by Elliot Rhodes, London.
Just as many Chinese wear tee shirts and clothes with meaningless English phrases on them, meaningless Asian script is extremely popular in many western countries on things like tee shirts, tattoos and yes, even belts!
Elliot Rhodes are belt specialists. They know their belts. What I like about them is their system of belts and buckles. You choose your belt first then you choose a buckle to go with it, or several buckles if you have the cash. They of course have different lengths available, but if your size is not in stock, they will cut the belt to fit you perfectly with just the right amount of “tail”. This is an important detail that sadly is too often overlooked by Chinese men. I’ve seen so many guys in Shanghai with belts that are way too long for them to the extent that the tail goes right round to the back of their waists – come on guys that looks ridiculous, sort it out!
Buckles can be changed in seconds, giving a totally fresh new look to that old belt.
Being able to change buckles is like having two or three belts in one. The above buckle works well with jeans during the day, but when I go out at night clubbing, I want something a little more eye catching, so I also got this gun metal buckle, which my cat Tommy is modelling:
And I know you’d all be very disappointed if you didn’t see any photos of WoAi himself, so here’s the man himself sporting this very same belt with a classic jeans and tee shirt ensemble:
For those interested in such things, all photographs (except the last one, obviously) were taken on my dining room table with a white card background covering the table and a single Guang Bao professional flash head with a 1 metre by 0.7 metre diffuser box.
Thanks for reading and you all have a really nice, extra special weekend, wherever you may be.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Woai – I couldn’t agree more with you that accessories are extrememly important! Since moving to Beijing and getting a little bored during the day at the weekend I have gone about buying lots and lots of clothes. Belts have become a favourite of mine particularly what they all ‘statement blets’. In other words you could wear a seeminly normal outfit – jeans, T-shirt – but with a really unique belt to liven the whole thing up. I personnal like red or white belts to add a little flare.
Love the gun buckle by the way!
June 27th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Ah yes wiseman, your wisdom is indeed legendary. Word spreads fast and I have recently noticed the popularity and flare of said white belts. Though I’m not sold on the white belt & shoe combination myself, I do believe some girls can pull it off
June 27th, 2008 at 9:40 am
All this talk of belt buckles has me thinking you’re ready to move to Texas.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:29 am
nice pussy! and the belts are snazzy, too.
true to T’s statement, buckle *are* popular in Texas, but i don’t ever recall any with Chinese script! =D
June 27th, 2008 at 10:30 am
(and i have taken off a LOT of buckles in my life . . .)
June 27th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Wiseman – It’s clear from your comment that you know EXACTLY what I am talking about, perhaps even better than I do. I didn’t show a photo of the buckle I *didn’t* buy. It was 99 pounds and had precious stones in it. Now I regret it!
Rich – I forgot to give you credit for introducing me to Elliot Rhodes and LOL @ your white belt comment. Wiseman, be careful how you reply, he ain’t heavy, he’s my brother!
T – Yeeeeehaaaaa!
Angie – How many buckles exactly, can we have a ball park number? Then I’ll tell you mine
And the pussy says hi!
June 27th, 2008 at 10:42 am
You’re more of a woman than most women Peter! I have to admit though, I love the belt with the Chinese on it and I have been known to spend 40 quid+ on a belt.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Thanks for the compliment James, if you tried I am sure you could be a woman too. You see if you had the Elliot Rhodes system, we could swap buckles and go out on the town together, just like real women would do!
June 27th, 2008 at 11:12 am
This must be your best fashion friday post so far, but you could have found a better model. No, not talking about you, but your pussy. He wasn’t actually modeling, he was just in the picture. LOL
June 27th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Sue please don’t disrespect my pussy.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I would never dream of disrespecting your pussy…….wouldn’t want you to disrespect mine! BTW, he looks loverly….just not modeling thats all! Cheers.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I have over 20 pcs of belts with different color, length,width,qulaity to go with different outfits.Sometimes the outfit just look not right while missing a belt. But absolutely I like the idea from changable buckle!
June 27th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I thought James was metro but this takes the bisuit!
June 27th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Sue – Tommy’s a fat cat, but not fat enough to wear fat WoAi’s belts!
Cindy – Thanks for stopping by, it’s great to have a style queen commenting and with 20 belts, you obviously already understand the importance of accessorizing.
Dingle – Do you not need belts?
June 27th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
dingle is more of a suspenders man.
Can I be the first pedant to point out that it says “Liu xing Zhong Guo” and not “zhong guo liu xing”? Thanks.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
James – You big show off. As if anyone would know!!!! Nobody likes a smart arse.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Woai, maybe if you spent less time looking in the mirror and more time concentrating when you were writing these posts these stains on your site would not occur so frequently!
June 27th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Dingle – Surely i can do both things at once!
June 27th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
If you set up a webcam and have that as a live updating part of your site then we can all enjoy the splendour of your attire.
Perhaps giving notes when one of your eyelashes is out of place.
June 27th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
James my eyelashes are never out of place although the other day it was windy and my tie wasn’t 100% dead centre, but I don’t like tie clips so what can you do!
June 27th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Great fashion Friday. I was up late last night tossing and turning, I was just to excited about the upcoming fashion Friday. I don’t know how you always produce such stellar material, but keep it up and KUDOS.
Thanks for making my rainy, gloomy, overworked Friday a little brighter.
Only 6 days and 12hours until next weeks Fashion Friday Post….Oh I can hardly wait.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Cheers Matt. The posts are published precisely at 7am each day so the best solution on Thursday nights is simply not to bother trying to sleep. I look forward to becoming a regular reader of YOUR blog soon, then I’ll be the insomniac.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Matt – you dont deserve to call yourself a fan. Woai’s loyal following look forward to each and every post with equal anticipation. Fashion Friday (yes, I too capitalise it) is simply the icing on the cake!
James – please dont tempt him. Though he could simply place one of his many laptops in each room of the apartment to provide us with a seamless camera feed
Dingle – a true metro knows his priorities! The mirror is king!
WoAi – Heavens above! Whatever next? Shiny medallions adorning your neck, no doubt
June 27th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Rich – Please shut up about the medallions and don’t spoil next week’s surprise! I didn’t want to say anything but it is disappointing that Matt only looks forward to my fashion posts. And I have Macs not common laptops if you don’t mind.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Hahaha here comes the Hoff!
June 27th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Oh I have a pic of the diamante buckle. It’s not up to your high standard, taken on my phone, lol but if your readers want to see it…
June 27th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Sorry Rich we have very strict quality standards, no substandard images can be shown here.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
No one, except gay men, notices when a guy is wearing expensive belts.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
WoAi, Fashion Fridays brighten up my entire, rainy, sodden week in Shanghai – and Tommy the cat ROCKS. Could we have a Caturday special???
Although I have to say that Shoe Tuesdays also bring a modicum of jollification to the midweek doldrums. What with the anxiety over James’ turtles, this whole damn city must be insomniac…
June 27th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
a lady never tells . . . who are we kidding?! hahaha that was so funny, i crack myself up.
did you want a ballpark number on buckles i’ve undone or pussies i’ve had in my lifetime? i’m a little confused?
June 27th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
could rename ur blog : fashion friday nite.
Do most men in Britain know how to accessorize? Or the situation is similar?
Looking forward to a post on Chinese Murse (Man purse) or black dress pants, black dress shoes, and white socks.
;P
June 27th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
@ Swiss James
It could be either ☆流行中国☆ or 中国★流行
June 27th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Whoa, Angie’s bringing some of that Texan heat to WoAi’s readers
Bruv, when you say sub standard are you referring to the subject or the image quality? Cos the buckle is all quality baby!
June 27th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Rich – LMAO @ the hoff
B – Just because a perfectly straight man is into fashion, dose not make him gay. I know alot of men who are like that, all either asian or from UK. Strangely, have not come across an american who is straight and comfortable being fashionable. America needs more!
Woai – now your disrespecting fat ppl. I dun see an once of fat on yo, so shut up about being fat.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
b – How dare you accuse me of being gay. At worst, I’m slightly bisexual, but I am never giving up the women, never, never, never! Although I might consider it for you, darling.
Mackers – Just when I was questioning my sanity after taking photos of belts at 3am on Thursday night / Friday morning, you remind me it’s all worth it! Just for that, you get your wish, a special Caturday Special in your honour.
And yes, it’s no coincidence that I chose Friday, so readers of James’ Shoe Diaries can recover and get some sleep before Thursday night rolls around.
Angie – I don’t see no lady! Belts, buckles, pussies, dogs, why not let us have it all, with pictures
Joyce – This blog is about China, it’s only on Fridays that I cover fashion, but thanks for the suggestion and for clarifying the 中国★流行 issue. James is just a pedantic smarty pants.
Rich – Obviously I mean the image quality has to be top notch!
Sue – There’s a lot more than an ounce, I just hide it well!
June 28th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Hey woai! you have a great blog going for ya. keep it up!
Your blog is quite witty and the comments are also fun to read.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Rich – I know its a little late to reply – its amazing how much you can miss with one long plane flight to HK and a night of drinking – but yes you’re right girls pull my belt off all the time! Woai must have told you I assume hehe
June 28th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Shanghai Ninja – Thanks so much. Modesty aside, the most important thing that makes a blog are the comments. Without comments the blog has no life, so it’s you guys that make it work.
Wiseman – I don’t think that’s what my cheeky brother meant, and I think you know it! Also, why go to HK when Shanghai is closer and way more fun? I and every Shanghainese have lost face and we are deeply offended by your blatant snub of the best city in the galaxy. I suggest you work out a charm offensive that involves helping Shanghainese orphans and donating money to the Shanghai stock market.
June 28th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Woai – fear not I shall grace your dear Shanghai with a visit! Its been 3 years since I was there and frankly I can’t wait!
June 28th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
sue – I wasn’t suggesting that woai is gay. My point was that woai was batting for the wrong team if he sought to impress potential bedroom partners with his choice of trouser waist bands.
But no perfectly straight man is ever into fashion. Any man into it is slightly bend, though few have the courage, unlike our Dearest Woai, to admit it. I’m sure America has plenty of men like woai. Didn’t the term ‘metrosexual’ come from your country?
woai – I feel delightfully the same about you. I generally don’t do men over 40 but I’ll make an exception in your case.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Wiseman – Can’t believe it’s 3 years!
b – My view is that nobody is completely homosexual or completely heterosexual. It’s a sliding scale. Even gay men are not 100% gay, it could be 99% or 85% or 60%.
June 29th, 2008 at 5:22 am
b – I’m not sure where metrosexual came from, but I think Woai is more eccentric than metrosexual hahahah.
June 29th, 2008 at 9:48 am
woai – have you been speaking to my mates in Glasgow? I’ve been preaching this theory for years.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:09 am
The thing to remember is that once upon a time most people were bi – have you seen Rome? So it makes sense that people are not 100% hetro or otherwise.
June 29th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Wow, I was expecting a barrage of contradictions but it seems everyone agrees with me!
b – I haven’t been speaking with your mates, but you can’t wear a kilt and honestly claim to be 100% heterosexual!