Belt Backing?

[Black Swan Designs]

My apologies if I missed this suggestion from someone else, but have you considered wearing 2 belts? Back in my costume wearing days I had the same sort of problem, and had considered making an 'under belt' of webbing that was stiffly woven. My plan had been to cut it to the exact length needed, weave in or binding the ends in silk to prevent them from raveling, and use hooks and eyes to join the ends so they met exactly without overlap. A coarse weave would hold onto the fabric of the gown (presumably wool) and not slip. This would take the strain of holding the pleats and provide a flat foundation for a slightly wider belt to be used over it.

I had played around with this a bit before I developed a phobia about wearing costumes, and it worked out pretty well.

Gwen

[Charlotte J]

Thanks for the input, Gwen.

I've settled on giving it a shot with the belt alone, but then was thinking about a leather or other stiff underbelt for support if it was needed. I hadn't thought about some sort of webbing, or cutting it to size, or really gotten much further than "underbelt", so your experiences playing with it sure help.