In a perfect world, belts would fit just so, buckling at just the right hole every time. But the opposite is the case—if you wear a belt at your natural waist (as opposed to around your hips), half the time there isn’t a tight enough hole for the buckle—so it’s hard to keep it from sliding, and then there’s the issue of what to do with that awkwardly long tail. Here’s a simple solution to both problems—a neat little flourish that will also hold your belt in place, even if there’s not a belt hole right where you need one.

Step 1: Wrap a belt around your waist and pull it through the buckle and the keeper as tight as you’d like. If there’s a convenient belt hole, buckle up! If not, slide the prong to the side, out of the way. Position the buckle slightly off-center to your torso.

Step 2: Pull the tail up behind the belt from underneath.

Step 3: Tuck the end of the tail behind itself, and snuggly into the keeper – for most belts, the tail should fit in there tight enough to keep it from undoing itself, and to keep the belt from loosening up.

Last week, I showed you how to tie a scarf, what other accessories problems my trusty dress form and I help you out with? Leave questions in the comments and I’ll give tips for some of them here on the blog.