Object | Anderson's - Braided Cotton Belt

Summer is the season for keeping it simple. A pair of shorts, a t-shirt or a buttondown and a nice pair of shoes is usually enough. There's not much room for playing around with layering when it's ninety degrees and the sun is blazing. That's where accesories come in handy. Without increasing the amount of extra heat you need to endure it provides you the opportunity to play around a bit and give your outfits that special edge.

This D-ring braided belt from Anderson's is perfect for adding a splash of color to a palette that usually consists mainly of khaki, white and navy blue. Red can be tricky to pull off, but done right it can work wonders and usually it works great as an accent color. The white complements the red and subdues it just the right amount. This is definitely a strong contender to our previous favorite cotton belt.

On The Hunt For: Braided Belt

A couple of days ago I found myself in desperate need of a new belt. Belts, I've found, are an easy way out when you feel that you need to update your wardrobe but, like me, feel to stressed out (read lazy) to start shopping for summer clothes. You can usually wear the belt with almost anything in your existing wardrobe and thus create new, fresh-looking outfits. Now, I've already got a number of belts: The mandatory black leather one, the dito brown leather version and some random canvas ones too but there is one that I realised I've been missing out on; the braided leather belt.

So I went browsing the world wide web (that wonderful place where you can find almost anything you're searching for or procrastinate countless hours telling yourself that you are, in fact, searching for something). Turns out there are plenty of good options out there.

First one I found was this one, from Ralph Lauren. Looked to be the perfect width but the color seemed just a bit too light for my taste. I usually prefer a darker shade of brown. Then there was Anderson's D Ring Woven Belt. The color was more to my liking, the width not so much. Asking around for advice, one of my friends sent me this picture (see above) of a beautiful chocolate brown suede braided belt. He didn't know where he'd gotten the picture but identified the belt as being from Our Legacy's AW08 collection. So I went scouting for it but unfortunately for me I was probably a couple of months too late. Instead I found this one, also by Our Legacy. Definitely the best option so far but, like the Ralph Lauren one, a bit too light for me.

Finally I stumbled on the perfect one, purely by coincident. While browsing A.P.C.'s web, I found it. Perfect width, the perfect chestnut-brown color and it comes in a number of sizes so it will probably fit even my abnormally skinny waist. Pictured below, on the left.