How to choose the right size belt

Intro:

Belts can be sized in a variety of ways, which makes it difficult for paying costumers to find an accurate size. Most places go off of pants size, but an establishment selling suits may get a waist size. When ordering online, it can be even more difficult because you can't even try the belt on. Before we begin to understand what size belt you need, it is important to know how to even measure the belt itself to understand belt sizing. 

How to measure a belt:

A belt is typically measured from the center of the oblong (where your belt meets the buckle) to the center hole. This ensures that the the costumer has wiggle room to either tighten the belt or loosen depending on a variety of factors such as climate, weight gain/loss, or adding pouches or holsters, etc. It's that simple. Now that you know how a belt is measured, how do you find out what measurement you even need?

Three ways of sizing a belt:

1) Pant size

For men, your pant size is an easy way to get a measurement for your belt. Typically a belt size is 2 sizes larger than your pant size, but this is not always reliable or accurate. Some manufacturers will size pants differently, making it even harder to get a correct size. For women this is especially difficult because women's pant sizes are not simply a waist measurement.

2) Waist size

This is one of the best ways to get an accurate measurement and is the method used at Old Northwest Leather. Simply grab a flexible tape measure and run it through your belt loops around your waist and pull it tight but not so tight that you are squeezing yourself. Record your waist size but know this measurement is not actually your belt size. The buckle itself adds generally an inch to the belt, meaning you will want to subtract an inch from your waist size to get your belt size. For example, I have a 36" waist. But to get a correct fit I subtract an inch to get a 35" belt, so by the time I add a buckle it should fit correctly. Of course this method varies depending on the size of buckle you wish to use. 

If you do not have a flexible tape measure then simply use a string, make a mark on the string for your size, and then measure the string.

3) Measure an existing belt

Measuring the belt that you currently use is the best and most accurate method of sizing your new belt. Measure your current belt from where your buckle meets the belt to the hole that is most often used. This measurement becomes the size of belt you want. The goal for the new belt is to make the measurement taken from your current belt the center hole on the new belt. For example: If I am using the last hole on my current belt and measure at 36" then the goal for my new belt should be to make 36" the center hole. 

Final notes:

Here at Old Northwest Leather, we like to custom fit belts; but because we sell online we cannot get an old belt from costumers in order to make the new belt. Therefore we use waist measurements to get the most accurate fit for our customers. This method works for both men and women. Don't worry though; you do not need to know how to size your belt to order from us. When you go to order a belt simply type in your actual waist measurement and we will get you the proper size belt.