As in karate, a green belt student has learned to strengthen and refine their techniques to a totally superior level.
As in fashion, Terry Stack’s green belt (AND red, brown, white, pink, orange, blue and black belts) are technically refined, very strong and better than any belt I have ever bought.
I love accent pieces of jewelry. And I wear belts a lot. So I was nonplussed when I happened upon the Terry Stack collection at a trunk show on Nantucket one summer. There were bits and pieces of her new collection of easy slide straps and I fell in love with them. The crocodile leather was soft to the touch and the invisible velcro close allowed for a pretty display of a whole host of the metal buckles that she fashioned to slide on and off of them. All designed by this woman, Terry Stack, a former model and corporate executive who instinctively designed the straps and then the buckles as a fashion statement for women of all sizes. You see, the sizing is suspect – these belts make you think your waistline is smaller than it is. Case in point – Extra Small fits XS/S, Small fits S/M, Medium fits M/L, Large fits L/XL. The belted beauties are produced in every color of the rainbow, using all sorts of leather, and they are cut in all sorts of widths and inches. I’ve never had a belt hoop that could not accommodate at least one of her straps.
The buckles that were created for adornment are as adorable. Statement pieces. There are choices galore (and each new season, more and more to choose from) monogrammed letters, gem stones, turquoise, tortoise shell, silver, gold, horsebits, and my personal favorites – the animal collection, and I do, own all of the little creatures that I feature. Swapping the buckles with the colored belts is a lot of fun – it has become a right of passage during my morning styling – part of my routine. And since I finally bought a proper belt hanger – much easier to sort out. Gold jewelry = gold elephant, Silver jewelry =silver elephant, and so on.
I think, like Terry Stack, that a belt does complete an outfit. And with just a switch of the buckle, a new look is born and a few unwanted inches seem to mysteriously disappear.
photographs by Viva Violeta Photography
