Belts have been around since before the Great Egyptian Pyramids. The simple strip of fabric wrapped around your waist holds your pants up, but it can also be a fun fashion statement. However, belts have been moving down the fashion ladder for years now, and Roseville students have different ideas for why, and if belts should be a part of everyday fashion.
Senior Victoria Yang said that modern day fashion has gotten more relaxed. “People wear pajamas to school now… belts are trying too hard” she said.
Yang, like many other RAHS students, said they wouldn’t wear a belt to school, but they have no judgment of others who choose to. Freshman Lily Freeman said that, “belts are just not my thing.”
However, not everyone is open to the style of belts. Junior Blain Alemu said, “They’re ugly. If I saw someone wearing a belt in the hallway I would think ‘Hmm…that’s a choice.’”
But why were belts even needed in the first place? In ancient times, belts were used to carry swords, pouches, and other weaponry. Later, in the 1700’s, belts were used to cinch men’s waists, to give them a snatched waist, broad shoulder look. By the 1900’s, belts’ only function was to hold men’s pants up around their hips. Women did not start wearing belts until much later, when it was much more common for them to wear pants.
Today, athleisure is the newest fashion trend. Sweatpants don’t require a belt, and that makes getting dressed all the easier. Many sweatpants have a tie around the waist, meaning they can fit everyone.
However, jeans do not. Many students wear jeans on a weekly, or even daily, basis, but for some reason, belts just aren’t seen as often as they once were.
There are many reasons why belts are not worn as much by younger generations, one of them being that people dislike the aesthetic of belts. Freshman Hazel Larson, said, “belts can ruin an outfit if it doesn’t match correctly. They’re also so inconvenient if you have to use the bathroom.”
Contrastingly, there are students at RAHS that wear belts often. Even with all the styles and stores available in 2024, it can seem impossible to find a pair of jeans that fit your body the way you want them to. That is where some people choose to wear a belt. Senior Natalie Kors said, “me and my friends wear belts all the time; you just don’t always know.”
Others in the building have extremely contradicting ideas. Alemu said, “I think girls have just accepted that pants aren’t going to fit us either way, so why would I wear a belt?”
Many boys at RAHS were asked to give their input on belts but had no opinions on them whatsoever.
Belts might be a controversy among the fashion world, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter that much. Trends cycle in and out, and one is going to remember your day-to-day outfits in fifteen years. As senior Robert Mechura said, “wear what you want. It doesn’t matter that much”.
