I’ve been hearing from a lot of readers who want more information about wearing belt buckles, so let’s take the time to explore this fashion forward practice a little further. This advice can be used by men and women though I have some specifically female advice at the bottom.

In Part 1 of How to wear geeky belt buckles, I talk about tucking in your shirt and/or wearing a sports jacket/blazer to dress up the outfit. But there are many ways to style belt buckles for many occasions. The key is to consider if the belt buckle will be the focus of your outfit or an accessory. This is simple to figure out. Large, ornate, or multi-colored belt buckles will be the focus of your outfit and should be paired with solid colored shirts or shirts with a little embellishment (like a little writing on the chest). Small belt buckles with a simple design and limit color can be paired with busier shirts. Basically, when you look in the mirror, you should focus on one thing, be it the belt buckle, shirt, shoes, or rainbow hair. Having too much going on creates chaos for the eye and can ruin and outfit even when all the pieces alone are fashionable.

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Finding a belt

The belt is probably the hardest thing to find because most people just like belts with buckles. But for us fashion forward geek chic folks, we want the customization in our belts like in our video games. Find places that sell belt buckles and you’re more likely to find belts for interchangeable buckles. Amazon.com has a basic black and white one here as well as dozens of others. I recommend buying a black, white, and brown belt to mix and match. You’ll get the most use of the black and white belts though, going for the opposite shade of your outfit, namely your shirt - dark outfits get the white belt, lighter outfits get the black belt. Browns go with browns. Very advanced belt bucklers can try pairing black belts with brown-ish outfits, but it’s more challenging since brown and black can often clash. But never say never.

T-shirts/Polo shirts

T-shirts are the most versatile to wear with belt buckles. Make sure you buy fitted t-shirts (small guys should not be buying large clothing). If the t-shirt fits properly, it should just reach your waist making it easy to prop up to see your belt buckle. Do not tuck your t-shirt in ever. Simply cheat the front of your shirt up behind the belt buckle so you can see the buckle, but not the belt. You’ll have to maintain this area throughout the day to make sure the shirt doesn’t cover the buckle or worse, make sure it doesn’t start folding over all around showing your belt or worse, your skin.

I recommended wearing solid colored t-shirts with some writing on them. The writing will obviously be a different color from the shirt, something that matches with your large, attention-seeking belt buckle. Try blue writing to go with a Superman belt buckle, for instance.

The maintenance it worth the trouble, especially since t-shirts go great with blazers and sport jackets. You can still wear jeans and sneakers, but you’ll look extra cool with the jacket. Even a Batman belt buckle will be dressed up when paired with a sport jacket.

Pants are easy. No matter what shirt you wear, stick with casual pants, like jeans or even loose fitted khakis, preferably with some wear in them. Your blazer might dress up the outfit, but belt buckles are still casual accessories. Dress pants will be over powered by anything other than your basic belt.

The the preppier geek among us, polo shirts are a great alternative. Collars add credibility, it seems. So you might be showing how much you love Nintendo on your belt, but your collar says you also enjoy playing the stock market. It only says that. It doesn’t have to be the truth.

Button down-shirts

Assuming you are one of the few men willing to wear button down-shirts in a casual setting, button down-shirts are great way to class up for geeky belt buckles. Best of all, button down-shirts look great tucked in allowing you to easily show off your belt buckle. Don’t be scared away by more formal shirts. Clean white shirts are the staple of any man (and frankly woman’s) wardrobe. It goes with everything. Mixing colors with your belt buckles is harder, but simple try to take one of the less prominent colors in the buckle as the main color of your shirt. If you have a silver or metallic buckle, then your color choices are varied, but I recommend blues, grays, and blacks as your starting ground.

For the ladies

Women have a lot more choices when it comes to clothing, so obviously there’s a great deal more mixing and matching to be done. All the above advice works for women, pairing jeans or khakis with polos, t-shirts, and button downs with your particular geeky belt buckle choices. For more advanced dressers, oversized belt buckles and belts are more a ladies’ design than a man’s and works surprisingly well with skirts, but are not for the fashion timid. It’s easy to overpower your outfit with an over eager belt and buckle. Make sure to experiment with belts that hug your figure - not add to it.

Belt buckle options

This is where the fun begins - picking the belt buckle. It’s impossible for me to summarize all the options, from comic book characters to bottle openers to customizable LED screens. As I wrote in Part 1, stay away from overly busy designs, specific belts with too much color. If it looks messy in the store, it will look tragic on your belt. You should be able to tell what the buckle is from a short distance. You don’t want people needing to bend over to stare at your buckle (well, you might, but I don’t recommend that until the 2nd date).

Explore belt buckle websites like Alley Chicago, BuckleCity.com, Superherostuff.com, and Rob Diamond. These sites have huge selections to get an idea of what you might like. Once you know your style, it’s easier to Google search for your niche or go to young, trendier stores and ask the clerks if they can help in your search. Some bigger chains like Urban Outfitters and Hot Topic have excellent options, but smaller, thrift-like stores where the salespeople have colored hair and multiple piercings will be your best option.