I stopped wearing a belt back in August of '15…
I kept reading this thread, and I started to worry that people were staring at my belt.
(Oh, and I too remember the Trying To Be Cool Guys in middle school wearing their belt buckle to the side… for some reason they wore tan corduroy pants… and they did play guitar and work on cars)
What a weird and wonderful little thread! However, it was really interesting to me to see that beltman grew up in Culver City at about the same time as I did. I was a bit closer to MGM, though. I lived about 2 and a half blocks south of the Thalberg Building.
Funny how stuff lurks in the back corners of a brain.
There was a short-lived TV show in 1995 called Double Rush starring Robert Pastoreli* as a former musician turned manager of a New York City bicycle messenger service.
Amazingly cruddy YouTube copy of the show’s pilot. Robert comes out of the office at about 1:15. Bright pink shirt and belt buckle over his left pants pocket…hard to miss even with the fuzz and blur.
How much time have we got? C’mon, give it to us straight…
Somewhat off topic, this reminded me of automotive trend in Europe in the 80s (particularly some French cars, such are Renaults and Citroens) sporting their emblems off-center on the grille.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Renault_21_front_20071031.jpg
REPLY TO Beckdawrek
It’s good to know there is some interest in this subject, which is a favorite of mine.
My link to the photo worked okay when I tested it in my Yahoo Email environment, but when I posted it on Straight Dope, the message board apparently altered the link, causing it to fail.
I’ve posted a fair number of photos on another forum without any problems. I generally locate the photo using Yahoo’s Search. Then, I do a right-click “copy image address”, which I then paste on the forum. If anyone thinks they can help me, I’ll be glad to Email them my link to the Jan-Michael Vincent photo.
I’m interested in solving this problem as I’ve gathered together a number of photos from the Internet of guys wearing their belt buckle off-center, which may be of interest to some subscribers to this thread. I don’t want to turn this thread into a photo swap site, but I thought it might stimulate some discussion of this topic.
I wear my belt off center, only because don’t like the excess belt strap just hanging so, I slide the belt over so the excess fits in belt loop.
This. It’s been over 20 years since I was in, and I STILL get a physical anxiety reaction when I see an improperly aligned belt buckle.
I’ve never been in the service, but I can appreciate a proper gig line. I’ve actually had people ask what branch I was in, based on how I was dressed.
I recall wearing my buckle off-center when I was young and foolish. Now I’m old and foolish, but not so much as to devote hours to researching old videos for buckle locations. In the Army I was told not to wear shiny buckles or cap insignia because those provide aiming points for snipers. So the best buckle location is probably on one hip.
Reply to carrps
Well, it is indeed a small world! One slight correction. Technically, I grew up in the city of Los Angeles, about halfway between Marina Del Rey (which was a dairy farm then) and downtown Culver City, in an area called South Mar Vista. I went to Venice High School, which was the location for the movie “Grease”. Interestingly, in that movie, the actor Jeff Conaway wore a heavy leather jacket, blue jeans, and a wide black garrison belt with its large rectangular buckle worn on his left side. If you do a Google Image Search on “jeff conaway and john travolta”, you’ll find a photo of Jeff Conaway attired as described. He appeared “so cool” (read macho). Did you ever wear your belt buckle to the side or have any interesting thoughts about guys who did?
I came across the photo below and remembered this thread:
Link with comments: My dad & his pals, 1950’s in St Johnsbury VT : OldSchoolCool
Great photo! I have worn my belt buckle to the side for a good 40 years. The funny thing is how rarely anyone notices. I have had people that have known me for many years ask me why I started wearing my belt that way. They are surprised when I tell them it isn’t something new…
My dad was a teen in the 1950s and was heavily into cars and motorcycles. He later worked for decades as a mechanic. However, I never saw him wear his buckle off-center. Instead, he wore a smooth leather-covered belt buckle to avoid scratching the paint on vehicles. I inherited a batch of his tools a couple years ago, and found that buckle in the toolbox.
