Superman. Batman. Green Lantern. Green Arrow. The Flash. Spider-Man. Thor. Captain America. The Hulk. All are well-known comic characters with long and storied histories, and all of them have been the subject of their own movies and/or TV shows. As a consequence, there is a ton of merchandise available for these characters. And while I’m a huge proponent of the idea that girls and boys can both like girl female and male heroes, sometimes a girl wants some gear with a female hero she can relate to and aspire to become.
That’s why, as the dad of a (recently-turned) five year-old girl, I’m always on the lookout for some fun, unique female hero clothing and accessories I can get for my daughter. Her favorite superhero is Wonder Woman, and luckily the folks over at SuperheroStuff.com have quite a bit of cool Wonder Woman items available.
I chose this belt for my daughter, Joy, as a gift to give her for Kindergarten. Although she’s going to public school, nowadays is seems the kids all have to wear uniforms so her options for expressing herself are pretty limited other than her shoes, socks, and yes, belt. She begins Kindergarten in two weeks and is starting at a brand new school that none of her preschool friends are attending. My hope is that wearing her new Wonder Woman belt with her jeans or pants will give her a little boost of confidence and help her not be shy or sad while she tries to meet some new friends.
To begin with, let’s talk about the design. The belt features really cool retro Wonder Woman artwork that looks to be from the 1970’s, with our dark-haired heroine glancing over her shoulder. It’s also got the iconic white stars on a field of blue and a classic vintage Wonder Woman logo. This is the Wonder Woman that those of born back in 19(cough-cough) can relate to, and it’s so much fun to be able to share this version with my daughter.
The belts come in two different sizes: 1.0” tall and 30” long for youths, and 1.5” tall and 48” long for adults. I accidentally got the wrong one (the Adult size) for my daughter, but that’s actually okay. The belt is actually intended to be cut to size to fit your waist. There are very simply instructions on the back for doing so, and so my wife got out her fancy sewing scissors (although I’m confident you could do it with a regular pair of sharp scissors) and cut it off – we actually left some extra length to help accommodate my daughter’s waist as she grows, so that she can keep using the belt for years to come. As a point of context, my daughter is a size 6X and we cut off 15” from the 48” length.
The one downside of having to cut the belt to size is that you lose the little metal aglet at the end of the belt, and the end could be subject to fraying. This is why it’s very important to have a very sharp pair of scissors when you cut the belt. We also chose to use a matchstick lighter to very slightly “melt” the ends of the belt to keep it from fraying any more. This is a common sewing technique that you can use on things that are likely to fray like ribbons, thread, etc. The trick here is that you do not want to burn the ends and you don’t actually touch the flame to the material. You are looking to get it close to the edge to melt it a bit and seal it off. The end result should feel a little stiff and still a bit rough. [Note that this is something that my wife did, as she has a long history of crafting and sewing. It is not a procedure recommended or even mentioned by the folks at SuperHeroStuff.com so please proceed at your own risk]. Here’s a link to a short 6-second Vine video showing how she did this, but you can also just do an online search for “burn edges to stop fraying.”
In terms of the construction, the belt is thick and appears very tough, and the buckle is heavy and solid. My five year-old daughter did have a bit of trouble opening and closing the clasp on the buckle but it’s entirely likely that it’s because this is the “adult” version of the belt and not the kid version.
My daughter is so excited by this and can’t wait to wear it to school. Any fan of Wonder Woman or older 1970’s retro comic book styles would love this as a gift. And, be sure to check out all of the other cool Wonder Woman stuff offered by SuperHeroStuff.com.
Item provided for review purposes by SuperHeroStuff.com.
Martin Thomas
@comicattack.net
That is one cool looking belt! Sometimes the retro stuff is the best!