Alert reader Robin N. sent me the following collection of images, asking, “I know you talk about the butt side vs the front side on covers, and the dismembered corpse. What I want to know is, what is it with this belt? Why do I see this belt on practically every UF book?”
Belt? There’s an urban fantasy belt? Oh yes, yes there is.
WHOA. What is up with that? Robin asks the same thing: “Does it have super-uber magic powers this belt? Does it automatically scream “I am baddass, I can wear silver studs around my womanly/manly waist without looking like a refugee from 80s disco?”
No idea, but have you noticed the belt? Have you seen it elsewhere? How many are there – are the cover models sharing it? Is it being distributed across the urban fantasy genre peaceably or is there a sparkly belt treaty in play? This is amazing. World peace via silver studded belt.
Have you found Ye UF Belt? Share a link or pic in the comments – and if you OWN the belt, please, tell us of its magical properties!
Yes. Yes, it does.
Also, it provides a thing to attach your holster/sheath to, apparently.
And do you know what’s even awesomer? In the right light, it SPARKLES.
My little sister wears this belt . . . but then she’s the goth/punk queen of Berkeley, and should BE the star of her own paranormal series, LOL!
Sarah Jessica Parker had a UF belt in the first Sex In the City movie. Out of all the costume changes, the belt appeared the most. I think she kept the belt when the movie wrapped. Obviously, she recognized its soopa powas just like Ben P’s wife did.
Note to self: buy UF belt on next shopping trip.
The UF belt – the must have accessory this season.
Loving this.
a similar belt came with a pair of jeans that i bought at Target about 6 years ago. If only i knew it had superpowers, i wouldn’t have gotten rid of it. (sorry, but i was not emo/punk/bad-ass enough for that belt.)
sorry for the double post.
@aliza mann, if you click the link, it will take you to a UF webpage where 3 covers are shown. All 3 have the belt.
I too own this belt and yes, they get pissy with you when you wear it while trying to get through airport security. . .
LOL – The belt, like THE Ring, must have magical powers because I have been looking for one for years now and while I have found single row, cheap imitations, I have never yet found it in its finest form – double or triple row in genuine leather with enough metal studs (or grommets) to prevent me from flying commercial airlines.
I briefly questioned my obsession with the shiny studs when I saw my 14 year old semi-emo niece wearing one, but have bounced back since then. (She kept a close eye on hers after it became clear that I coveted it so) Now that I know it’s not only shiny but will also give me superpowers I am more determined than ever to find one.
Good thing I will be visiting the Mall of America this summer. The odds of finally realizing my quest have gone up considerably!
Hot Topic. I think my daughter owns one. It’s part of their Goth stuff.
@Pam
Oh noes, Shorthard! The least impressive pirate and/or Highlander ever.
I really think that author’s need to get together and ban the
supernatural belt!
Seriously I am discouraged by the lack of originality that is going on with UF covers overall lately……
You’re not looking in the right kind of shops . . . you need serious leather shops (aka S&M/bondage). Hot Topic is only going to give you a faux version (as they do of everything else; the South Park Goth kids and I are as one with the HT loathing).
Or you can try ordering it from Studs and Spikes. They have a large collection of them.
Hell, she probably rocked one in “Square Pegs” – or in her epic dance contest opus, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” I tell you, the thing is THAT OLD. Given I wore one over a quarter century ago (eep), when I see the UF belt, I unfortunately think “midlife crisis.”
Why do I have a sudden urge to locate the nearest Hot Topic and find my own UF Belt?
My now sixteen-year-old used to wear this belt regularly maybe two or three years ago. But she’s evolved out of her goth phase.
If I ever need to hire a vampire slayer, now I know where to go! Forget the yellow pages, I’ll just hang out at HT in the accessory section…
These covers held my attention for other reasons:
Book 1 – Does anyone else think the heroine’s gun looks like she stole it from her Grandpa’s vintage Lone Ranger dress up set?
Book 2 – Sorry, I can’t get beyond the fact that the chick looks like a walking Midol ad.
Book 3 – I never saw the episode where London wears Hannah’s wig!?!
Book 4: If the hair, the tats, and the shadowbeard don’t say tool academy…then the belt and cuffs most certainly do. and can someone explain that extra chain thing to me? I’m sure it serves some purpose for .02% of the people who wear it…
@Mama Nice, I live in Missouri. I see “Wallet Onna Chain” all the freaking time. Mostly sported by greasy, dirty guys who are either a) stupid or b) drunk/high/whatever. I figure it’s to keep the wallet from trying to flee the fumes and filth.
Well, the obvious answer to me is, those silver studs protect you from ravishment by werewolves.
The problem with the theory, of course, is that in these books the heroines usually want to boink werewolves. Maybe they wear the belt when they’d rather do the vampire that night.
This thread is cracking me UP! You guys are all hysterical. I have to leave the keyboard to go get my tissues. Tears of laughter rolling down onto sensitive electronic equipment are not a good mix. And all six chapters of the EF novel I’m working on are stored on it. I didn’t back up onto external drive after yesterday’s work yet.
I’ve determined that the time-traveling UF Belt of Destiny DOES make a showing in the Sarah Jessica Parker movie “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (1985) – but – BUT! – it’s her male dance partner who’s wearing it!
The belt makes its first appearance at 00:24 of
.
THE HUMANITY.
@aliza: Yep, I am another author who has fallen victim to the UF belt. If you go to Amazon and click on my Elemental Assassin book covers—http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=aps&field;-keywords=jennifer+estep&x=0&y=0—you’ll see that my heroine has a belt on in all of them … something I never really noticed until I saw this post. LOL.
Maybe the mystical UF belt is like Wonder Woman’s belt and gives all the UF characters super-strength? I think it all started with WW …
@Kalen – thanks for the link. I may have to order one of these belts just to see what “microfiber vegan leather” is!
@Cara
Not to worry—Join us for our nest episode in which Shorthard is defeated by Fafhard and the Gay Mousser.
Spamword: size89 Am not!
Im 14, not a goth, emo (hang me now), or punk kid but i love that belt… or ok i love how it looks when i set it on fire because as has been proved above it seems to be some sort of symbol or goth/emo/punk culture for those who want to fit into some sort of steriotype and look like total idiots (pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin like a fool with ya pants on the ground) to the point where a otherwise awsome accessery has been put down to the level of being a steriotype in and of itself BECAUSE of how it has been used by said steriotypes… it makes me want to scream.
sorry needed to rant a bit. hehe.
My mom owns this belt though and it seems to give her the power to know when i stay up late reading and ground me the next day because of it….
I owned that exact belt at 15 when I also wore velvet bondage trousers.
Now I look a lot more ‘eccentric in mourning’ it doesn’t really have a place in my heart any more.
To my shame, I think the belt looks awesome. Many thanks to the commenter above who provided links (part of the appeal isn’t the stated ‘also it really really hurts’ reaction to being hit by someone wearing a cuff of the same style at all…).
—By which I mean, er, the belt is terrible! Burn it! Yes! I do not like it at all! Honest! *twitch*
capcha: mother93. Between my mother and my father I’d be teased 93 ways to next week if I expressed so much as a vague interest in this style of belt.
Also, something I didn’t think of until after I’d clicked post—the artist who apparently (according to people or persons upthread) did all of these covers is also responsible for all of the Dresden Files. So he is capable of doing things (epic urban fantasy things, even) sans belt!
/vaguely on-topic but mostly off of it
Now I want a belt with a skull & crossbones buckle. I can just imagine the comments at my conservative workplace…but it isn’t forbidden by the dress code.
My daughter (18 on Friday) owns this belt. She must be renting it out for fantasy cover shoots. I just noticed it’s back in her room.