The difficulty in buying a replacement leather belt, or generally a leather belt for that matter, is to determine if the prices, which can range between $5.00 to $300.00, is directly correlated to the quality of the leather.
What is leather?
Often in the world of fashion, the strength of a brand determines the perception of its goods. I.e. this is branded, hence its leather belts must necessarily be made of leather. Correct?
What if I showed you this:
Or this:
It is no wonder that consumers aren’t willing to pay $20.00, let alone $100.00 or more, for a supposed leather replacement strap outside. They are also unwilling to pay the original branded price tag too, suspecting that the “leather” belt might end up peeling again.
So what is leather?
Leather is simply preserved animal skin and we actually know how skin deteriorates, or rather not deteriorate because we have them on our own bodies. If skin were to peel and crack as the above photos, humans i.e. you, are in serious trouble.
From another perspective, leather bags that boast prices in excess of $20,000.00 would have absolutely no basis whatsoever if leather deteriorated so easily and as above.
Also, soldiers would have to change their “leather” boots daily just by walking through vines and undergrowth as they inflict deep injuries into the sturdiest of real leather.
AQUILA
Armed with the fun facts above, I recommend Aquila, our very own home grown men’s fashion store.
With most belts averaging $120.00, customers are guaranteed full grain leather belts (the technical term for real leather), to replace the old belt straps on their branded buckles.
Guaranteed real leather aside, Aquila also caters to a wide range of buckle structures and specifications such as thin belts, skinny belts, tracked ratchet belts, slide belts with no holes etc.
Where to buy real leather belts in Singapore
Apart from AQUILA, I turn our attention to tailor boutiques which are perhaps not in one’s radar when purchasing belts.
The long and short of the “why” is that they cannot afford to let substandard complementary accessories damage their reputation. The result is self sourced good quality gents apparel such as leather belts.
Two tailors offer full grain leather belts for less than $200.00:
Artorial Bespoke Tailoring started from a humble beginning at st george road in 200?, They have now expanded and moved to raffles place at 13A Lorong Telok, Singapore 049026.
In addition to quality, these guys understand men’s fashion, these guys understand design, they understand class and refinement, they understand conversation etc. They are after all bespoke tailors.
Fun facts
Thin belts are not the same as skinny/narrow belts!
“Thin”-ness, as the word suggests, refers to the thickness of your belt, not the width!
This is important because oftentimes, the most refined buckles demands 3mm thin (thickness) belts with fine stitching. The belt is but a supporting accessory to the buckle which itself is only a supporting accessory to how a gentleman carries himself in a sea of other accessories.
The buckle simply doesn’t allow belts thicker than 3mm, or 28mm wide (width) to be inserted into its clip.
This is but an example of how Aquila tailors your belts to both you and your buckle.
Photo provided by Aquila fashions
Keching 