What kind of belt do I wear?

[SleepyArcher]

I dont know what kind of belt to wear with my new FOP outfit. Is it a ring belt, regular belt with buckle? did they wear belts?

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Baroness Doune]

What is holding up your slops or trunkhose Sleepy?
Are the trunkhose pointed (tied) to the doublet?
If that is the case and you are comfortable with that (the Baron would not be comfortable at all), then just add a sword belt.

In the picture below (taken by Lavender), Edmund Clotworthy is wearing his sword belt, although he does not have a sword on his person.  (He might have left the sword at home in the UK due to customs issues.)

[silverstah]

The picture of Edmund that Baroness Doune posted is pretty well spot-on.   The 'ring belt' that is popular is a bit of an anachronism, so if you're going for historically accurate, then that's not the way to go.

(That said, I have a ring belt that I wear with my garb ALL THE TIME, because it's totally pretty and I love it. *grin*)

For your look, I'd go with a thin (1" - 1.5") leather buckled belt.  You're presenting a very pretty, polished image - a big thick belt would detract from that, aesthetically. 

The Tailor, Portrait of a Halberdier and Portrait of Walter Raleigh are good examples.  The Raleigh portrait shows a jewel-studded or embossed belt, which would be awesome for your fop character. 

A really easy way to dress up a basic leather belt is to use leather stamps - you just punch the design onto the leather with a mallet.  I've seen folks paint on the punched design with metallic paint, which looks really nifty.

You can also dress up a belt with nifty hardware from someplace like Raymond's Quiet Press, who sell amazing buckles and belt ends.