Photo courtesy of Unbelts.
I’ll be honest, this is a review I kept forgetting to write. Not because I don’t love the product — actually, quite the contrary. These belts have traveled with me from New York to Kentucky to Virginia to Tennessee to Pennsylvania to the Adirondacks and more. They’re so good at what they do — being an “un”belt if you will — that I kept forgetting I had it on and to take a picture so I could write this review!
What makes it an UN belt?
Well, for starters, it’s not like any other belt. I love my other fun, chunky belts and even my leather belts with the bigger buckles, and my interchangeable ones, so it could be said that I have a bit of a belt obsession. But what I didn’t love was how all my other belts with their larger buckles and more rigid materials fit underneath dress pants, hunt clothes, or quite how they packed. They were large, bulky and not always the best in situations when a slimmer waistline and less obvious belt would be better.
Enter the Unbelt.
It’s all machine washable, thin, elastic and adjustable to fit almost anyone, with a sleek smooth buckle that looks great with your shirt tucked in or is almost completely invisible if you want it covered. No belt-buckle-bulge under the shirt for that awkward lump. Nope, it’s totally flat.
They come shipped in a super cute package complete with a handwritten note and welcome card!
Where did I wear my Unbelts?
Everywhere! I had three variations that went with me to the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event this past April where I tried them for the first time. I brought a brown with gold, and black with silver and grey with silver, but somehow I only ended up coming home with two … I believe the brown one wandered off with a four-star rider friend (you know who you are, haha!). In Kentucky, I mostly wore jeans with a nice shirt, sometimes tucked in, sometimes not. One of my friends borrowed the belt and commented that she kept forgetting she even had it on!
Next, the belt went with me to corporate business meetings in Tennessee. Here I often go from business suits / pants + nice blouse in the office to jeans and a nice top for dinners and networking events. Because we fly to Tennessee, packing was also an issue compared to Kentucky where we drove so there wasn’t as much concern (if it fit in the car, it came with me). Packing for Tennessee meant fitting everything into one carry-on bag as I hate checking luggage and having slim belts to pack certainly helped. I wore one and packed the other, and it took up almost no room in the suitcase at all. Score! The belts were excellent with suit pants, and easily transferred over to more casual wear with ease and were comfortable to wear all day whether I was sitting in a conference room or at a fancy dinner.
After Tennessee, the belts then headed out on another road trip, this time to Great Meadow International where I had multiple other stops scheduled as well. I went from New York to pick up a colleague in New Jersey, then on to a friend’s farm in Virginia. From there we headed up daily to Great Meadow to attend the show where I did double time between representing Petrossian Caviar in the VIP tent to hoofing it across the arena to the vendor area to support several friends and vendors there. This was a bit of a challenge as it meant business clothes / more formal wear at a summer outdoor horse show in heat and humidity while still needing to be able to get around from the various tents and locations and of course look good and, um, hold my pants up (apparently I lost weight and my pants were suddenly loose — eeeps!). Belts adjusted, and away we went!
Me and my Unbelt were lucky enough to enjoy some caviar with FEI TV commentators Ed Holloway and Karen O’Connor at Great Meadow International.
While down there, we stopped in Maryland on the way home to test out the new BUA Saddle (they’re coming out with a new all-leather more traditional looking saddle soon! Read my BUA review for info) and the belts then went from business clothes to summer riding attire with ease and comfort. Excellent!
And then for one final test, I headed out to the Adirondacks for a week of camping and trail riding with horses and friends, and a day at Saratoga Race Course thrown in for good measure — yay Travers Day! The belts came there too and went everywhere from riding horses in the Hudson River to Travers Day at Saratoga and again remained soft and comfortable and nearly invisible. How invisible? Um, well I am not kidding in that I kept forgetting to take pictures, so here’s one I finally remembered!
No belt-buckle-bulge here thanks to my Unbelt!
After all that traveling, the belts were in need of a good bath, so into the washer they went. Yup, they’re machine washable too. They say the best way to do that is leave it in your jeans’ belt loops and wash — which is good since I am often too lazy to pull my belt out of my jeans anyway — and then hang to dry. Another easy thing to do since I tend to air-dry all my jeans so they last longer. Really, this belt can do just about anything and go anywhere!
So while I absolutely love this belt, don’t get me wrong, I love all my other fun belts too — I do need to order more Unbelts since now it seems I am down to just one. Be careful if you order — they tend to go home with friends and never return, causing you to become addicted to belts like I am!
Unbelts retail for $35 and are available in a huge variety of colors. Shop Unbelts at the website here!
