Ladies Belts & Buckles: A Primer

[Mojito]

Vintage Betty, I'm starting a separate folder on my hardrive: VB's reference posts! I particularly love the Victorian, Nouveau and Deco pieces (of course) - the Egyptian revival belts from the 20s and 30s are near and dear to my heart! I do love the pert little nose they've given the royal wife in her vulture headdress!

Here's my favourite belt. It's by the great designer Lucile (Lucy Duff-Gordon) - I may have posted about it before? Some beautiful detail on it. The label is from her New York premises, at the address she moved to after May 1912 (a month after she survived the Titanic sinking). I'd have to check, but I believe she moved again later, so that would suggest this is Teens. It has snap closures, beads, rhinestones and some lovely detail:

 

[ShortClara]

This is really amazing Betty, you rule! :eusa_clap

I have a beltbuckle I got in a thrift shop that appears to be made of bakelite, I think it's maybe 1940s. I'll try and post a photo of it this week. I'm going to try and get some suede to make a belt for it. Clara, I love those funny shaped green buckles.

Thanks AdaVeen - I feel like I need to make a dress around them specifically. I wonder if I could manage to use them together somehow? I'll have to keep checking out VB's marvelous posts for inspiration!

VB, that '94-'95 catalog is absolutely amazing!!!

 

[Miss 1929]

I just got this lot of vintage belt buckles. They are not as fancy as Betty's beautiful examples, but they are way more interesting that anything made today. I guessed 40s-50s for them.

I think these are mostly late 20s and early 30s, I have a lot of this type from that era, and almost every 40s belt have found with it's original buckle had a fabric covered buckle on it... these look so deco in style as well!

Thanks VB, I will rack my brain and come up with a more 50s name for that section!

I am curious, why do you think that two-part celluloid buckle with the Egyptian faces on it is 30s? It sure doesn't look like it to me, but maybe I am missing something? It looks mid 20s to me. Maybe I am crazy...

 

[ShortClara]

I think these are mostly late 20s and early 30s, I have a lot of this type from that era, and almost every 40s belt have found with it's original buckle had a fabric covered buckle on it... these look so deco in style as well!

Really? Well neat! Thanks so much!

 

[Vintage Betty]

Bump - Update of text, bunch of scans and a free pattern added to this thread. More to come.

Vintage Betty

 

[Ada Veen]

I have dug out my belt buckle and am thinking maybe it is more modern than I thought - 60s or 70s maybe, though I really have no clue. I have tried to take some pictures, but I have a really poor quality camera, so you can't really see it. It is some sort of dense, hard, plastic, and has a 'grain' to it, like wood, if that makes sense. It has a metal spoke up the middle and a linear pattern. You can slightly make it out in the terrible photos below perhaps:

the back, which is plain:

 

[Vintage Betty]

Looks like a fuzzy art deco belt buckle to me.

What say you, Miss 1929?

Vintage Betty

 

[Ada Veen]

I thought the styling was quite art deco when I found it! I thought perhaps it was bakelite, as it doesn't feel quite like plastic. But then I got it for very cheap, (like 10 pence) so that's why I didn't want to get my hopes up.

Oh, I wish I had a good digital camera! That's my christmas list

 

[ShortClara]

I dunked my buckles in warm water and Dreft to wash them. When they came out, several were a bit... gummy. That's the best word I can describe. Some were plain plastic and felt like it, but the small blue one and the two matching green ones (at least) were soft and gummy when wet, and definitely had an unusual odor. Does this indicate the type of plastic they are?

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Wow, Vintage Betty - you've done a lot of work here. Thank you! :eusa_clap Accessories are some of the most difficult things for me to identify appropriately.

 

[Sunny]

I can probably research this thread as far back to the 1850's within my personal library and forward through a year by year study of the early 1900's, possibly the 1930's the 1940's (maybe) and 1950's (definately).

As a reminder, I am happy to research questions in depth, but I usually ignore other questions until I feel the question of this thread has been answered fully.

How much information do you need on this particular subject?

Vintage Betty

VB, I for one would love info back to the 1850s! I do 1860s reenactments and I've got a tentative handle on buckles then, but everything I can add to my knowledge is terrific. I've got an original of some kind of early black plastic that I've been told is in the ballpark for the period. My mother has another one.

 

[Vintage Betty]

Thanks for the nice comments ladies!

Assume additional information will be added to this thread in 2-3 weeks at the earliest. Therefore, there will be a delay in adding information to the pictures already posted.

In the meantime, I will attempt to go back and review the questions posted already that I haven't had time to answer.

Accessory items are my specialty, so it's nice to be able to share my knowledge. As many of you already know, I consider it an honor to be able to use my library, otherwise the books just sit there on the shelf and what's the point of that?

Please note I am not an expert, only a hobbyist, so the information I present will be an attempt at compiling information. This information shouldn't be considered the last word on any subject, and mistakes are probably listed too, so keep an open mind to other differing opinions that will be added to this thread.

Thanks again!

Vintage Betty

 

[ShortClara]

BUMP!

I dunked my buckles in warm water and Dreft to wash them. When they came out, several were a bit... gummy. That's the best word I can describe. Some were plain plastic and felt like it, but the small blue one and the two matching green ones (at least) were soft and gummy when wet, and definitely had an unusual odor. Does this indicate the type of plastic they are?

I'm bumping my question for any of you smart ladies...?

 

[Lady Day]

[huh]

From what Ive learned, and what others have told me, bakelite will generally be carved, and you will see the carving marks. Celluloid is a safer bet on the plastic we wear. Most of it prolly is that, as bakelite was more commonly used for appliances and such.

LD

 

[LizzieMaine]

Early celluloid is chemically unstable -- it's kin to nitrate movie film -- and will decompose with time, leading to odd coloration and smells. It's also flammable, so if you must wear it, don't get too close to your stove burners.

 

[Miss 1929]

Looks deco to me too!

Looks like a fuzzy art deco belt buckle to me.

What say you, Miss 1929?

Vintage Betty

Hard to tell if Bakelite or celluloid by the fuzzy pics, but do look for carvings. Adn don't use the price you paid as a guide - we sometimes get great bargains!

Mary:
I'm still not sure how to tell a shoeclip from a buckle. The shoeclip I've seen before have been from the 50's and they have a clip on the back like earings. How can you tell by those you posted?

Dress clips are usually mistaken for shoe clips, and sometimes you can wear the item for either purpose. Belt buckles do not have the swinging clamp on them, usually they have a way to sew it to the belt and a closure that hooks the two halves together.

I have hardly ever seen dress clips later than the 40s, in the 50s they fell out of fashion. But shoe clips were still going strong. However, the shoe clips usually have a very small, toothed piece of metal that you bend to clamp onto the edge of the shoe, and a dress clip will have a hinged, sprung clip. Dress clips are often made of Bakelite or other plastics, or metal, or fancy metal with rhinestones. They are so useful for the neckline or edge of a lapel!

A variety of dress clips, metal, mother of pearl, rhinestone, etc:

Shoe clips:

Less fancy ones for daytime - note how they are shaped to fit the shoe:

 

[Vintage Betty]

Sears 1932

 

[Vintage Betty]

Sears 1936

 

[Vintage Betty]

Sears 1937

 

[Vintage Betty]

Sears 1938