There are many ways to size a leather belt. The easiest way is.... if you have a belt the person wears and the belt has a heel bar or pin buckle like the one below, measure from the point the pin touches the buckle at the far end (the left on the illustration below) to the most used hole in the belt (usually pretty obvious). If the belt has a trophy buckle ( big buckle with a small hook on the back that engages the hole) measure from that hook to the most used hole.

These are the methods recommended by belt makers for years. However, (There's always a however, isn't there?) Some makers do not include the buckle in the measurement. We do!

Most of the time, if the belt maker includes the buckle in the belt size, a belt 2 inches larger than the pants waist size will fit OK.

What it really comes down to is the effective length of a belt is the distance from the point on the buckle tang where it goes through the hole in the belt to the most used hole.

If you have trouble measuring for the belt or unsure of your measurement you can email us at mike@oldfatguy.com or call (231) 620-9010 between 8am and 8pm USA EST.

Note: we size belts 49 inches and below like most makers, to the center of 5 holes, from 50 to 59 inches we add a 6th hole and make the measurement to the fourth hole back from the belt tip , and from 60 inches up we add a seventh hole in effect making the measurement to the center of seven holes. We have put up to 10 holes in some 80 to 90 inch plus belts we have made. Please let us know if you prefer additional holes.