A few days ago I received a press release for something called "Isabelt."
Perhaps I am being dim here, but I'm not all that impressed. It's a piece of plastic that you wrap around your waist like a belt instead of... a belt?
So this
is better than this?
All the literature proclaims that this gizmo prevents the dreaded "BELT BULK" (caps theirs) and that it "virtually disappears" once you put it on. That "virtually" modifier causes me to frown. That thing is plenty easy for me to see in every photo & video available, and I really hatehatehate the way it looks. Seriously, why not just wrap a strip of strapping tape around your waist? Sure, it's not bulky, but you'd have to be wearing a top that was guaranteed to never, ever ride up above your waist so that it didn't show. Also, my experience with that sort of clear plastic (the sort from which they make those "invisible" bra straps) is that it isn't terribly sturdy. How long is this thing supposed to last?
Also worrisome? The fact that in this three-and-a-half-minute video, something like 20 seconds of it is devoted to "remove the Isabelt from the packaging." Seriously? You have to tell me to take it out of the box??? How dumb do you think I am?
I get the idea -- sometimes you need a belt, but don't like the way it looks underneath your top. I suppose in a very specific situation, this could be a good solution. And there is a LOT of positive press on their reviews page, although much of it looks like people regurgitating the press release without actually trying it. Which is another thing that grates my cheese. I'm on the e-mailing list for a lot of PR offices these days, and I get random releases all the time. A lot are like this one -- just a page of copy, but no product for me to actually look at. So I'm either supposed to just parrot your company's information to my readers without knowing if it's true or not, or I'm supposed to drop 20 bucks to find that out? Mmmmmm, no thanks.
So how about you guys? Any of y'all tried this? Would love to hear about it!
Photos: isabelt.com
3 comments:
Thanks for the laugh today! No, I haven't tried it (really, who in god's name would?). I'm with you: I was giggling as she's demonstrating how to remove the product from the box. Really? And the fact that you never see her head made me snicker a little bit more, and then I got completely distracted by her 'man hands': take a look at those paws! Yeah, I want a piece of plastic that looks like it's going to rip in two minutes holding up my pants!
Eh.
1. It's not invisible.
2. If it's the same kind of plastic that's used in clear bra straps, not only is it not durable, it will also bunch up and get stuck when you try to adjust it.
3. When she puts it on, it gives the appearance that she's either forgotten to remove some part of the packaging from her jeans, or perhaps they are defective.
4. If I'd have turned in that ad as one of my Mass Comm projects in college, I'd have gotten an "F." Just say "no" to do-it-yourself commercials!
I have an extremely skinny black patent belt that does exactly the same thing, goes with just about everything, and doesn't make me look like I tried to use my bra strap as a last-minute belt. This ranks right up there with Crocs and stirrup pants.
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