Vintage buckles

You know that I'm into buckles as much as buttons. Nowadays they do not cause such a sensation as before. And no wonder. In the past they were so elaborate, so big, so colourful that you could not ignore them. Now buckles seem to have to blend with the rest of the outfit rather than stand out. That's why I absolutely love vintage buckles!

How to fit a D-buckle, or how I fixed that old belt

I had this belt, you can call it boyfriend style. The trouble was that it had been worn out. The faux leather pieces were crumbling, ...so I replaced them with new ones I cut from a scrap of leather I had in a matching colour.

Now this looks really bad...

How to make a soft belt with a buckle

I love buckles without prongs, which make perfect belt sliders. They are easy to sew, easy to fasten, and turn out to be discreet if you have to loosen your belt after a meal. ;)

I made this belt for my retro-inspired dress. It is in a very light yellow colour and I had a plastic buckle in exactly same tone.

How to attatch a buckle with a prong to a belt

Generally, I prefer slider buckles, not because they are easier to sew, but because they do not require making all these little holes along the belt. Plus you can loosen it slightly while at a big dinner (something so typical in Spain...) in a very discreet way ;)

But today I want to show you how to deal with the other kind of buckles, those with prongs. It works both or metal and plastic prongs, as these can sometimes cannot be removed without braking them.

I know two ways of attaching a buckle to a belt. In the first one you have to consider the prong while making the belt itself.

How to take a prong off a buckle

Most belt buckles come with a metal prong. While some antique buckles may have casein prongs, which are impossible to remove without breaking the piece, the prongs on most modern buckles are easy to remove. In my shops I do it as a standard service, but if you have bought one WITH a prong and now you have changed your mind, don't worry. It is easy to fix.

These yellow buckles originally had a metal prong
but the customer requested to have them removed.

You can do it in two different ways. Sometimes one way is better than the other.