I hate belts.  Spurred by my own recent foray into faoshin-blogging, I've been buying, or at least trying belts.  Belting and tucking.  Argh.  I don't like it.  I like layered soft things that are shaped enough to show I have a shape.  If I wear a belt I like it to drape heavily at the level of my hipbones.  Waist belts drive me batty -- they make me self-conscious all day, and if they're lightweight, they seem to move around a lot and need to be picked and poked at.So I don't wear them.  I'm the original empire line girl and my pants sit low.  Thank god I'm a college professor and I can dress as I like most days.Oddly enough, and contrary to your experience, I became much more comfortable in bras once I learned to choose and wear underwires.  Even highly structured contour or minimizing underwires.  My waist may want to be free but the ladies like to be caged.