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Belt (clothing)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A belt is a flexible band, typically made of leather or heavy cloth, and worn around the waist.
A belt supports trousers or other articles of clothing, and it serves for style and decoration.
Historically, a belt was also used for spanking children, and by masters for spanking servants. This use has somewhat declined in the Western world, as it is viewed as too barbaric and uncontrollable a form of corporal punishment by certain people.
Belts have been documented both for male and female clothing since the Bronze Age. Both sexes used them off and on, depending on the current fashion, but it was a rarity in female fashion with the exception of the early Middle Ages, late 17th century Mantua and skirt/blouse combinations between 1900 and 1910. Art Nouveau belt buckles are nowadays collector's items.
- One specialized type of belt is the utility belt or Police duty belt, which includes pockets for carrying items that the wearer needs for prompt use and loops to hang larger items. Police officers, soldiers, and repair personnel are typical roles which use this kind of belt. A famous fictional example is Batman's utility belt.
- The sash is another variant of the belt, generally decorative or even ceremonial.
- A cummerbund is a belt-like decorative garment worn about the waist.
- A common sight in fantasy and roleplaying characters is the excessive use of belts in all different sizes on one's person. Usually they are used either for securing clothing and armor, but others just have several belts around the arms, legs, neck, waist, hips, and across the chest for decoration. Sometimes they are used in place of eyepatches or to decorate weapons.
- A Studded Belt is typically made of leather or similar materials, and is decorated with metal studs. Studded Belts are often a part of punk, emo, skater and metal fashion.