I've always had bruises on my hips. Ever since I was a teenager.
Two words explain why, and every woman will understand without explanation: countertop corners.
For men, here's the breakdown: My hips are at countertop height, and, as I am apparently incapable of walking in a straight line, I constantly ding my lady bones on the edges. Taller women might experience this on other angular objects, such as doorways, doors, cabinets, bookshelves, your car door -- yes, I once managed to slam my hip into the car door. If you wonder how this could be possible, you have never worn this body before.
My hourglass is black and blue and busted up.
Hips like these are why A-line dresses exist, why women's jeans are cut differently than men's and why women's belts also are shaped differently.
Yes, they are.
Until recently, they weren't. Regardless of your body shape, belts were belts: one straight-across line, the same width across. To put one of these on an hourglass body was like trying to jam a triangular peg into a round hole. I'd put a belt around my waist with a dress, and 20 minutes later, I'd be wearing another necklace.
Lynn Thrale West and Ann Raabe saw a problem with this, and they set out to fix it.
Raabe is an artist in Boulder (annraabe.com), and Thrale West is a good friend of hers who lives in London. They met years ago when they were in their 20s volunteering in Israel. After a few months, they both went separate ways, continuing to travel around the world, until they reconnected a few years ago, thanks to Google and social media. More than 30 years had passed.
During a visit, they got talking about belts, Raabe says.
"I love belts, and so does Lynn, but they're so hard and mean. They cut into you and are not comfortable and not flattering," Raabe says. "With both of our creative minds, and we love to work with our hands, we started making these crazy buckles."
That led to creating the "perfect" belt for women, with an arch that would fit and flatter the curved shape of a woman's body, Raabe says.
"The arches are quite intricate and frustrating and fun," she says, "and I think we've finally got it." .
That's one reason Raabe believes other accessory companies make their belts simple and straight. Plus, it's more expensive to cut leather in an arch, and harder to mass produce, she says. Her design is wider in the back and tapers in the front.
The friends launched a company, Boldover Belts (boldoverbelts.com), which offers two different shapes of belts, one to wear on the waist and one for the hips, Boho style; in two different materials, leather and recycled bicycle inner tubes; and with three different types of buckles, all handcrafted, swirling and sensual.
Belts are all custom made (so you won't have that awkward belt-flap, tail-in-the-front situation that you have to try to shamefully tuck). Although you can order them online, Raabe encourages people to visit her studio, 4944 Pearl St., Suite C, in Boulder, to get custom fitted.
Each belt is one-of-a-kind and handmade in studio, she says, down to each rivet. Even the leather is bought in small batches.
"Once it's gone, it's gone," she says.
Boldover Belts currently sell for $55-$75, but expect prices to go up soon because of the amount of work and materials required.
Raabe grew up in South Africa, so her art and style is strongly influenced by African art. Her unique (and stunning) mixed-media wall hangings incorporate whitewashed bones on a background of fractured mirror, shells, glass and crystals. And her belts fit the way she remembers seeing African women wearing their sashes.
"Growing up in Africa, women always wore sashes around their hips because that's the cradle of your fertility, where your uterus is -- the real powerful part of a woman," Raabe says. "Rather than de-emphasizing it, many cultures around the world emphasize the waist and femininity. We feel like we want to celebrate the female look and shape. I'm getting a little philosophical here, but that's part of it. Show it off."