Last week, I was scrolling through Instagram when I happened along a clothing hack that specifically stood out to me. It claimed to make the waist of your jeans (or any pants with belt loops, really) smaller so the pants don’t loosen around the waist as the day goes on. Essentially, how the hack works is by taking an old shoelace and stringing it through the two side belt-loops on your pants that are further toward the back (your pants need to be on first). Once the shoelace is strung though, you pull the two ends of the shoelace together and tie the ends together tightly. Finally, you tuck the strings into the back of your jeans so no one knows there is a shoelace back there. 

This morning, I took a pair of especially loose boyfriend jeans and a shoelace from an old pair of running shoes I owned, and put the hack to the test. The hack was surprisingly easy to do– it only took five seconds, and wasn’t too complicated. 

From the front, my jeans looked AMAZING. They stayed up and fitted around my waist, and didn’t fall from the high waist position they are supposed to fit at. I wasn’t worried about my jeans slipping down whenever I sat down for class either. I also didn’t have to worry about adjusting a belt so it didn’t slip above the waist of my jeans, either. 

However, although this hack seemed perfect at first, this one did have a few restrictions. I really wanted to wear my high-waisted jeans with a tight shirt tucked in, and this did not work out as well as I thought. I tried to fit my shirt into my pants around where the shoelace was wrapped around my belt loop, but the back of my shirt kept on popping back out. Additionally, when I pulled the ends of the shoelace together it created a fairly large gap in the back of my pants, which showed with a tighter shirt that I was trying to tuck in. 

I’m going to be honest– from the side the gap was definitely noticeable, and looked tacky. But if you choose to wear a looser shirt with it it’s not going to show.  

In conclusion, if you don’t own a belt and are looking for a way to keep your pants up in a pinch, I would definitely recommend this hack. Just remember to wear a looser fitting top with the hack, and try not to tuck your shirt in with it.