Yeung Chin Belt

A buckle needs something to bite into. It concentrates all the tension of a belt onto one hole in one strap, which is fine on leather and unkind to almost anything else, and it is one of the reasons belts and soft clothes are usually a poor match. A wrap belt distributes that tension along its whole length instead. It has no hole to find, no fixed positions, and nothing rigid in it, so it will sit on an open weave or a layered cotton without pressing a line into either. That is the practical argument. The tassels are the other one: a tassel is what happens when you stop a woven or braided cloth by letting the warp run out rather than by binding it, so it belongs to the same idea as the raw hems and unfinished edges that run through the rest of this collection. Black and white, in cotton.

Why we selected it

Almost every belt we are offered is leather with a buckle, and almost nothing this house makes wants one. We wanted the belt that goes with the clothes rather than the belt that goes with belts.

Yeung Chin works in Hong Kong and makes there, and this is the same thinking about unfinished edges, applied to a smaller object.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton. Tassel wrap belt. Made in Hong Kong. Color: Black and White.

Sizing and dimensions

Sold in one size, and we do not hold a length for it. That matters more on a wrap belt than it would on a buckled one, because a wrap has to go round and then still have enough left to tie, and how many times it goes round is the whole of how it looks. We would rather say we do not know than give you a number we cannot stand behind. Please ask us and we will measure it.

Styling

Over the Cowl Neck One Piece Dress A, where a soft belt can gather layers without flattening them. Over the Embroidered Dress or the Embroidered Pant, both of which are loosely woven and would take a mark from a buckle. Wrapped more than once if the length allows it, which is a question for the garment rather than for us.

Care

Cotton, so it washes, and the tassels are the part that will show wear first, since a loose warp end tangles and abrades faster than the body of the belt. Keep it out of a machine and wash it by hand, and comb the tassels straight while they are damp rather than after they have dried. Our care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Oversize Shirt is cotton cut wide and closed with ties, which is the shape a wrap belt is for. Everything we carry from Yeung Chin is listed together.