So, i'm a bespoke leatherworker and have just been handed a christmas present commission by a family friend to make a belt for his wife. Problem is, he gave me a specific antique belt buckle to use on the belt.
Never in my 6 years as a costume designer and two years as a leatherworker have i been as stumped by a piece of clothing or jewelry as i am by this goddamn belt buckle. it makes no goddamn sense! i already tried getting help from /r/leathercraft and they've been no help, so after hours of googling just to find out what the hell this thing is, i figured this would be the best subreddit to come to for help. is there any kind of video of this in use? or a tutorial on how to use it? because i'm at a complete loss as to how to turn it into a functional belt buckle.
Still not sure how this thing works, but I did a simple search at the V&A under "sash buckles" and got some examples of sashes that seem like they'd fit such a buckle. More and better searches could be done, of course.
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O364241/belt-unknown/
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O364532/belt-unknown/?carousel-image=2021NA6961
If I had to figure this out, I'd make a paper or thin cardboard "belt" along the lines of one of those sashes, then I'd tinker with belt and buckle until I came up with a solution.