Satin garter belt - garters discontinued by Coquette - review by Jul!a

The packaging was more what you might expect from Coquette with the plastic bag and the pretty pink paper. There was a tag attached to the belt with a safety pin that was easily removable. There's also a tag on the garter belt on the inside right next to the eye portion of the hook and eye that gives you materials, washing instructions, and size. Your pretty new garter belt is 100% Acetate (exclusive of trim) and should be hand washed and drip dried.

I got mine in a size small. For Coquette that means that I should be between a size 4-6 with a 26-28" waist, and 36-38" hips. I'm a 4/6 with a 29" waist, the top of my hips are about 34" around and around my butt is about 37" around. These sat exactly where my jeans do on my hips on the middle setting. I tried to put it on around my butt to test the upper range of the measurements but I couldn't even get the sides to touch, so if you're on the upper end you'll want to order a size up because this does run small, or get some black bra extenders to make it a little bigger.

The design of this one is pretty neat, sort of like a cross between a garter belt and a bustier. Plastic boning separates 4 panels on each side of the bedazzled zipper. The top is about 32" straight across, but the bottom has more of a scalloped design to it. Each panel varies in height from about 4" in the middle of each one to up to 6" at the sides. At the point of each scallop on the bottom, a garter strap comes out for a total of 6 straps. While the zipper is indeed functional, it's best left as a decoration because it's pretty difficult to get it to work properly and line up right and all that jazz. I tested it once to see if it worked, and it took me almost 5 minutes to get it back up. Fortunately there's an easier way to get this on and off; the hook and eye closures at each end. There's a set of 3 hooks stacked two tall, exactly like most bras you'd find.



The garter straps are all adjustable, and are all the same length. You can shorten them down to about 3 1/2" from the peak to the middle of the clip, lengthen it to 6" from the peak to the middle of the clip, or any combination therein. They're also stretchy, so if you need a little more than 6" in length, you should be fine. Having a total of 6 straps gives you an extra advantage that most garter belts don't have, extra stability. If one accidentally pops off, you've still got two holding your stockings up. And the extra strap down the side of your leg just looks hot.



The clips are your basic garter clips. There's a silicone piece that slides into a metal clasp, very similar to the way a sliding chain lock would work. A small ribbon goes around the clasp to sort of hide it, or make it look prettier. But if you don't like the ribbons there you can easily remove them and the belt won't look any worst for it.

The whole thing really feels well made. The outside feels cool and soft to the touch, almost silky, like you'd expect something labeled as satin to feel. The inside is a little rougher but definitely not what I'd consider to be rough. It still feels nice against the skin. The zipper has a chunky plastic feel to it, like it's going to give out soon. This is the only part of the garter belt that doesn't look like it would hold up to much abuse, so I'd skip zipping and unzipping this one in favor of using the hook and eyes in the back.

Overall I was pretty impressed with this. It wasn't so comfortable for me under jeans because of the height, but under a skirt it was perfectly fine. I love the look of the zipper, but I hate that it feels so cheap. It is pretty comfortable for even extended wearing, so for the price, I do think it's an overall worthwhile buy as long as you get the right size.