Beyond the Big, Beautiful, Studded Belt
Big, bold, blinged-out belts were the the early to mid-aughts' ultimate accessory. These bold pieces weren't meant to keep your pants up, really. Functionality was seldom a selling point, it was instead a pure style statement.
Because it wasn’t enough to ice out your grillz and chain: Your belts were serious bling, too.
And like any Y2K trend worth its weight in nostalgia, the overdone blinged-out belt trend has swung back around, adorning a whole new generation of midsections.
The modern studded belt, though, walks a slightly different path than the ultra-blingy belts of yesteryear.
In the early 2000s, brands like Baby Phat centralized their bling at the buckle with studded logos and bedazzled emblems.
Present-day brands like Carhartt WIP are stretching out the bling. Instead of one big logo, Carhartt spells out "Carhartt" in silver studs. Still blingy, just a bit more Western.
Keeping the yee-haw agenda going, Swedish clothing brand Our Legacy upgrades classic black belt with silver Western-inspired studs swirled around small studded stars and Stüssy studs out a few belts on occasion. These include a tan leather "8 Ball" belt that has major festival energy and a SS stud belt that taps into some of the logomania steeze creeping back toward the mainstream.
Diesel, for all of its innovative spirit, actually stuck to the OG bedazzled buckle code, studding a buckle with sparkly diamantes.
And, of course, you can't talk about blinged-out belts without discussing the ultimate purveyor of blingy belt culture: B.B. Simon.
At one point in time, these Swarovski-studded belts dominated hip-hop's fashion scene and earned stylistic co-signs from the don dadas of aughts-era rappers like Jim Jones and Juelz Santana.
Now, 20 years later, a whole new era of rap stars like Jack Harlow and Ice Spice (the unofficial poster girl for Y2K fashion) are latching onto the pricey blinged-out belts again.
Supreme, for instance, is bringing back the B.B. Simon look not just to belts but also backpacks and bags, matching its studded sets of Dr. Martens loafers.
The legacy of B.B. Simon is a piece of fashion history that's still developing, and its influence can be felt and seen in younger brands.
One such example is Mannahatta, a New York retailer famed for grungy clothes and in-house belts that epitomize the B.B. Simon vibe with the addition of funky animal prints. That's two trends in one.
And hey, the trend-piling doesn't have to stop there. Another beloved trend from the 2000s, the flip-flop, is also getting bejeweled and studded to the high-heavens.
Whether it's 2005 or 2025, a belt or pair of shoes, studs are just the start.
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