Choosing the Right Medieval Belt
by Dame Eleanor Cadfan
Here is a basic guide to help in choosing a belt that works with your particular outfit or persona. Belts were not only functional items, but also status symbols as well. This is probably more than most people care to know about belts, so I have broken it up into sections to make it easier to read the parts that interest you.
What type of leather?
There are many different types of leather you can choose which will have differing characteristics. The main thing to keep in mind in choosing a leather is the functions of the belt. Decorative and mounted belts in period were often quite light and would only support the weight of a purse or other light object hung from it, without distorting. If you plan to hang a sword or large objects from your belt, you will want to choose a heavier leather with very little "give" to it. A sturdy latigo or veg tan should work well, but some chrome tan (modern) leathers have a very firm temper as well. In the SCA and some other re-creation groups it seems common to want to hang many, many things from the belt including drinking vessels, cell phones, and pouches that hold palm pilots, diapers, lunch etc... In period, belts were not intended to commonly carry as much weight as we tend to want from our belts. The more decorative the belt, the lighter they often were in this period, with the exception of sword belts and horse harness.How wide is it?
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how wide or long medieval belts, (often called girdles) most commonly were. Most belt fittings are found without their leather or fabric straps still intact, and so we can only guess as to their intended purpose. The Museum of London categorizes its belt fittings by size. Anything larger than 60mm (just over 2") is considered to likely be for horses. Belts therefore, other than sword belts, are thought to have been narrower than this and most were much narrower. When I researched findings extensively to choose my larger and smaller belt sizes, I choose 3/4" and 1 1/4" as representative of the common range.How long is it?
How long a belt was in period varied quite a bit as fashions changed. A belt would be longer or shorter depending on whether it was worn at the natural waist or slung low on the hips, but the main determiner of length was the "dangle". "Dangle" is what I call the part of the belt that hangs straight down the front, after the girdle has been buckled. Men usually have their belts hang shorter than women's, but usually not longer than the hem of their garments. Women have their belts hang anywhere from as short as 6 inches to as long as to their ankles. Long ornamented belts were costly and so the rich often wore their belts much longer than the poorer classes. In period, long continuous strips of leather were hard to come by, so leather belts were often made up to be whatever the length of leather strap they could find. It was not uncommon to find belts made from spliced pieces of leather to make the belt longer. Tablet woven silk belts were expensive, but could easily be woven to very long lengths as desired. References are made to labourers and farmers wearing linen girdles, implying that these were among the cheapest belts available.How many mounts?
I am often asked how many mounts medieval belts commonly had on them. In period, practice varies widely from as close to touching to as far apart at 5". The closer the mounts are to each other, the more expensive the belt, so for us, as it was for them, personal aesthetics and cost are the deciding factors. In rural areas, the availability of these mounts would have been more limited than it was for city folks, so country dwellers would be less likely to have metal adorned belts. Important fittings like buckles and strap ends were often removed at the end of a belt's life and transferred on to a new belt, so often low-end belts have mismatched fittings.Examples of belt buckles and fittings can be found on the FC Pewters page (see under "Belts and Garters" and "Belt Mounts")