Add an Old Belt to Dress Up a Scarf and More Creative Uses for Belts with the Thrifty Six: Belt It

I have been welcomed into a wonderful group of fashion and lifestyle bloggers that focuses on styling preloved clothing and accessories in themed monthly posts (third Monday of the month). I hope that this showcase of secondhand items and outfits provides some shopping and style inspiration for anyone who is interested in creating great looks in a way that is sustainable for our planet and our pocketbooks.

Today's topic is Belt It...and right away I was feeling the challenge of this month's theme because I'm not a belt person and don't currently own any belts that fit!

My first thought was to wear a scarf as a belt, and I picked out this lovely floral print scarf that I thrifted at the end of last year (and that I'd only worn once so far).

But once I had the scarf in my hands, I remembered that despite having no belts that fit me, I do own some old belts that I'd held on to because they are nice ones that made me think "maybe some day I'll do something with these." And the day had arrived!

By some great stroke of luck (and/or subconscious memory), I had a thin woven lime green belt that matched the green in the scarf beautifully.

I turned my long rectangular scarf into a faux-infinity style by (1) holding it long ways and holding on to two opposite corners, (2) tying those two corners together, and (3) wrapping it twice around and placing it on my neck with the tie at the back. I then wrapped the belt around the scarf and buckled it, making an ad hoc DIY scarf ring that adds some extra color, texture, and dimension to the scarf. I thought the result looked really cool. I did this with an old belt, but of course you could do the same exact thing with any thin belt in your closet. And you wouldn't have to match the colors - a belt in a normal leather color like brown, tan, or black would also look great. I think a metallic belt could also be a good choice.

From there, it was easy to put an outfit together - and shockingly, I am not wearing any layers over my short-sleeved top because it was a warm day (though once things cooled down later, I did add a dusky pink cardigan over it). For my base outfit, I pulled some old favorites from my closet that were not thrifted but are thrifty, having come down to low cost per wear over time: a black peplum top from Lands End (6/2017, 22 wears, CPW $0.54) and aloe vera ankle pants from CJ Banks (12/2020, 19 wears, CPW $0.36). To break up the expanse of black, I added a thrifted gold pendant/tassel necklace I wear frequently...to the point of a $0.05 CPW!

OOTD 4/17/26

My shoes are a sweet pair of calf hair leopard print ballet flats in a mottled olive-teal color from Nordstrom Rack (5/2015, 45 wears, CPW $0.67; 30 Wears post).

My daily bracelet stack started with a new paper bead bracelet set that I made to coordinate with this scarf in shades of burgundy, pink, and white with antique bronze spacers. I filled out the stack with my white pearl bracelet from Kohls and some DIY beaded pieces in dark burgundy garnet, white glass, pink/black agate, and mixed metal spacers. {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial} {tube paper bead tutorial}

The top paper bead bracelet in shades of muted pink started out as a calendar page with a young chick standing in pink flowers and grass; I liked how the surrounding area was out of focus, making a very soft and watercolor-like background. I picked out strips that were mostly the background pink color rather than ones that featured the orange-tan bird. The resulting beads had a beautiful subtlety to their color and pattern.

I made the bottom paper bead bracelet from a coloring page in an Amazon toy catalog that had a white background and burgundy outlining. After cutting my strips, I added light pink marker to cover some of the white sections (coloring only the edges and tips of the strips because that's the only part that shows in the rolled bead), creating paper that is white and pink with burgundy lines. Unlike the subtle shading of the first bracelet, the beads in this one had a more bold, colorblocked vibe.

Speaking of paper beads, I have started making paper bead earrings, which I've found is a great way to use the beads I make from the "leftover" paper strips that result from cutting triangular strips for bicone beads. Here's an example of what I mean (note: these are not the beads I used for the earrings I'm showing today; I didn't have photos of today's earrings).

When I cut the six 1" wide strips from the card, I had a 0.5" wide strip leftover on each end. I went ahead and rolled those leftover "ends" to create two smaller beads that can be used in earrings. It's nice because beads made from the "leftover ends" are not as long but are equally chunky as the original beads, so you can make chunkier, shorter earrings. If a person loved matching sets, it would be very easy then to make matching earrings for a necklace or bracelet. Since I'm not as matchy with my jewelry, I like to turn them into earrings that coordinate with something different in my closet.

In this case, I had two pairs of chunky 0.5" beads made from cardstock that had similar color palettes, so I decided to combine them into dangly earrings to coordinate with my scarf and bracelet set. Because the beads themselves are interesting, it doesn't make much to make them into cool earrings. For these, I surrounded each paper bead with small gold spacers on either end, turned them into beaded components, and linked them.

Now let's review the outfits with belts that my thrifty friends have styled...

The Thrifty Six:

• Emma of Style Splash

• Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade

• Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style

• Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style

• Sally of Within a World of My Own [me]

• Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

Emma of Style Splash

“I decided to recreate an outfit I’d worn before for a previous Thrifty Six challenge (metallics) as I liked it so much. I’ve only changed the bag and shoes. The gold jacket is vintage 1950’s, from eBay, and I bought the belt in a charity shop. Belts (other than the fabric type that come with a dress) are usually not on my radar, but this theme has reminded me that a belt can really make an outfit!”

Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade

“This was an 80’s vintage dress, now cut to make a blouse – I’ve removed the skirt, leaving this stunning peplum – peplums being bang on trend right now!

To exaggerate the silhouette, I’ve added an original 1950’s waspie which acts as a belt nipping in the waist to create a perfect hourglass.

I’ve further enhanced the effect using a waist cincher belt with a huge statement bow at the front.

Peplum, waspie and waist cincher together create this dramatic Alexis Colby inspired ensemble – I’m back in the early 80’s, fresh off the set of Dynasty…

‘Put a belt on it’ is the T6 theme for April – I did just that, in fact, I did it twice!!!”

Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style

“I’m a huge fan of these wide, elastic belts, and I found this one at a vintage shop. Of course, my maximalism brain said I should decorate it with a necklace and earrings. The dress and shoes are all thrifted, also.”

Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style

“I bought this Diane von Furstenberg top on Vinted, or perhaps in Lewes, England. I don’t remember it correctly. I loved this wrap top and wore it until it was too ugly from washing and wearing. This skirt was a high waist and the wrap straps got in the way of the skirt. So I used the straps as a belt!”

Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

“Recently, macrame belts have been popping up all over the place and I am definitely here for it! I found this brown beaded macrame belt on a thrifting adventure not too long ago and it is proving to be quite handy. I belted a newly thrifted dress layered beneath a newly thrifted robe for a cool print mix in earthy tones and added two preloved wooden necklaces and a pair of flea market leopard print earrings. But I didn’t just belt my dress, I also belted my hat with an old brown braided belt. I love using belts as hat bands to add a unique detail and better coordinate my hats with my outfits. I was going to also attach a belt to a handbag as a purse strap but I got lazy and skipped the third belt. I figured two belts would satisfy our thrifty theme! But keep in mind that belts aren’t necessarily just for your waist. You can get creative and belt anything you’d like!”

And me...

“I had to get creative for this challenge because I’m not a belt person and I don’t have any that fit me right now. So I used an old thin green woven leather belt (which I had kept because it was so pretty) to create a leather scarf ring.  I tied the two ends of the long thrifted scarf together, then wrapped it twice around my neck like a faux infinity scarf. Then I wound the belt around the scarf and buckled it to make a scarf ring look. I thought it turned out really well! It definitely added more interest and texture to my scarf (yes, now even my scarves wear “jewelry” ha!). I liked how the lime green color of the belt picked up that color in the scarf and related it to the aloe green pants I’m wearing. The scarf is the only thrifted piece in my outfit, but the clothes and shoes are such old favorites that the outfit’s total cost per wear was only $4.62, and $3.00 of that was the recently purchased scarf – I’d say that’s pretty thrifty!”

Next month's topic is my choice of Hemlines...so I better not be too stumped by it! (I actually had my focal thrifted piece selected as inspiration for the theme so it's only a matter of putting an outfit together using it. It's an item I don't wear very often so it'll be good to give it some attention!)

In the meantime, visit these lovely bloggers for the details of their thrifted "Belt It" outfits and more style inspiration (and more creative uses of belts):

• Emma of Style Splash

• Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade

• Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style

• Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style

• Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

Do you like to wear belts? Do you own belts that you don't wear (even if they fit you)? Have you ever worn a belt other than around your waist/hips? Have you ever used something else as a belt? Do you have any ideas for upcycling old belts and giving them new life?

Blogs I link up with are listed here.