Just personal opinion but I like the idea of the cinch serving it’s purpose. Certainly belt loops or suspender buttons must also be there for a reason where the use of the former seem the more ubiquitous and the latter more of a style choice (today). The cinch stands out to me though, at least in terms of how it complements the jeans as they age (a recent post in the Freewheelers thread being the perfect testament to that). In reality I don’t have a lot of personal experience with it though.