To belt or not to belt?

One of the questions I am frequntly asked is ‘Can I wear a belt?’. The answer is yes in most cases but your figure type must be taken into consideration. If you are short waisted (That is you cannot fit 2 hand spans comfortably between your waist line and under your bust)then wearing a belt is trickier. For instance, in theory as an hourglass, belts should look great on me, however with a shorter waist and a bigger bust, I have to take great care with belting. A belt tends to shorten the upper torso and make it look heavier especially when worn in a contrasting colour. If you have a shorter waist, I would advise that you wear a thin belt in a similar or toning colour to your outfit.
Here are my suggestions for different figure types:
Hourglass & Pear/ Long Waisted – You can wear most types of belt on your natural waist
Hourglass & Pear/ Short Waisted – Thin belt in similar or toning colour to your outfit
Rectangles & Inverted Triangles/ Long Waisted – Wear thicker belts in a darker colour than your outfit and this will create the illusion of a slimmer waist
Rectangles & Inverted Triangles/ Short Waisted, Plus sized & Rounded Figures should avoid belting in the waist ares as this will emphasis your problems – Try belting at the empire waist which will cinch you in at the thinnest part of your body.