How do I measure for a belt?

Belt length is measured from the buckle to the middle hole, and it is not your trouser size. Measure a belt you already wear from the buckle’s fold to the hole you use, or measure around your body over the clothes you will actually wear it with.

Buying a belt in your trouser size works about half the time, which is why belts are returned so often. The two numbers measure different things: a trouser size is a waist measurement, and a belt size is the length of a strap that has to go around your waist and through the loops and leave a tail.

The reliable method. Take a belt you already wear and like. Measure from the fold where the buckle attaches to the hole you actually use. That length, in inches, is your belt size. Buy that number and the middle hole will land where you want it, leaving spare holes either side.

If you do not have one to copy. Measure around your body at the point you intend to wear it — through the loops if it is for jeans, over a coat if it is for outerwear — and add nothing. That measurement should be where the middle hole sits.

Why coats change everything. A belt that fits over a shirt will be several inches short over a wool coat and a jumper, which is the single most common disappointment when people try to belt outerwear. If a belt is for a coat, measure with the coat on and buttoned. A wider strap, an inch and a half or more, also sits better over heavy fabric than a narrow trouser belt, which tends to disappear.

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