Formal British-Made Women's Belts — Voted by the Community

Belts belong to Britain's long history of leatherwork. In medieval London, leather crafts were organised as separate trades: cordwainers made shoes, curriers finished tanned hides and saddlers made harness and saddles. Belts had a trade of their own. The Girdlers, makers of belts and girdles, were granted the right to regulate their craft in the City of London in 1327 and received a royal charter in 1449. Girdles were often worn over a gown and used to carry a purse or other items, and the craft stayed important until the mid-eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, belts were mainly military and sporting items. Most men held up their trousers with braces. Belts became more important in women's dress in the early 1900s, when separate blouses and skirts came into fashion, and from the 1920s lower-cut trousers with belt loops made leather belts more common for men. British-made belts today are produced alongside other leather accessories, using the same cutting and stitching skills found across the UK leather goods trade.