A passion for fashion

Once upon a time there lived in Aylesbury Vale, a teenage girl who was obsessed with fashion. Her walls were full of magazine cuttings showing beautiful girls looking divine on the catwalk and she even dreamed up ladies wear designs while she slept. Alas she could not become a fashion designer because sewing machines would always jam when she touched them. She still felt an entrepreneurial calling so at 16 took herself off to study Business and Finance to ground her for the business she would one day run. Little did she know it would be an online belt shop. At 18 she decided to change her name and added ‘Ines’ as a middle name. This choice was inspired by the model of the year of that time - the elegant ‘Ines de la Fressange’ who was the first model to be signed exclusively by Chanel and with her business acumen, a stunning role model too.

A passion for brilliant websites

eShop by the sea

In 2008 Marta realised her long held wish to move back to Bournemouth. Tired of corporate life, she decided it suited her best to go back to working as a usability consultant in addition to setting up her own online store. Some people retire and start a tea-shop. Some go live by the sea and start an e-shop.

It was time to take the plunge to purvey lovely things that she could be truly excited about. Something she wished she had done much earlier in life before the burden of a mortgage had befallen her. But what would she sell by the seashore?

Finding the missing ingredient

Even if her style was always completely her own and yet much admired, Marta appreciated what wonders a belt could do for an outfit and how the quality of accessories spoke volumes about the wearer. She had of course bought cheap belts before because they were readily available in the High Street but they would always break and be run of the mill designs. Often she just didn’t buy any belts despite visiting every shop in a town because all the belts looked like they were for children, poor quality or could cause a magpie riot. Where did grown ups buy belts she wondered. What of those exquisite belts seen on catwalks and in glossy magazines that made a woman look and feel a million dollars?

For sure if you had time and if your shoe leather were up to traipsing around shops, you could eventually find a good belt in London. Alas not everyone lives in or wants to travel to London -  especially the ones who were always busy attached to their computers. Time has become our most precious commodity. Only the web could save her but there was no site doing what she needed. It was time to bring web users the online store of her dreams - a belt shop, selling a huge choice of quality belts that would be so fabulous you’d want to choose your clothes to enable you to show off your great belt. And so onceuponabelt.com and the strap line “it started with a belt…” were born.

Funding drive

All she needed was some capital so she downsized her year old swanky VW Eos convertible for a little Micra netting her £9,000 to get the show on the road. This would fund some buying trips, buy her some stock for the belt shop and give her something to live off until people realised hers was the best website shop for belts and that they all wanted to be transformed into beautiful maidens by buying the belts Marta had travelled the world to find.

Make history - UK belt shop

Once you buy a belt you’ll be part of the story too.

The here and now

Doom, gloom and va va voom

The online belt shop launched in June 2009. It might seem crazy to be starting a business in the worst economic conditions for sixty years, especially when retail has been hit so hard, but Marta firmly believes it could not be a better time. Business analysts say a recession is a really good time to start up –  well known chains are disappearing from the high street due to the high overheads of ‘bricks n mortar’ stores in the face of falling sales, thus reducing the consumers’ choice. They need somewhere to buy their belts from and with UK web users being the most avid online shoppers in Europe, onceuponabelt.com is only a Google search away.

Many of the belts the site sells are luxury items and this market is less affected by the downturn. For those feeling the crunch if you want to treat yourself to something, a new belt is a very sensible purchase not only because it will stop you trousers from falling down. The beauty of a belt is it can last a lifetime, make a whole array of clothes look even better, transform your look using your existing wardrobe and investing in quality accessories makes any ensemble look classy. Moreover, in a recession the fashion trends morph to smarter looks as people put more effort in to looking professional in order to hang on to their jobs.

The current fashion trend harks back to the 80s which is a great style and one with many outfits that just beg for a belt to complete them. So many clothes are sold complete with belts these days  - swapping the cheap belt a garment came with for a fabulous one will give one the edge.

Polish the crystal ball

Future

looking forward, onceuponabelt.com will be further expanding its range based on feedback from our customers.

Who we are

Legal spiel

onceuponabelt.com (also referred to as ‘OUAB’, 'Once Upon A Belt', and 'onceuponabelt' on this Website and in our literature) is a trading name of Meleniak Ltd. Meleniak Ltd is registered in England under no. 04557395. The registered office is 141a New Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 8QA, United Kingdom. The Managing Director and Shareholder is Marta Eleniak. VAT registration number is GB 945 0809 14.

With thanks

Credits

The name of the online belt shop came from Marta’s personal retail coach Chris, known to her as Coco Caine, because with decades in the fashion industry this Londoner speaks Chanel but in the voice of Michael Caine. A big thank you to him for all his brilliant ideas, also to the talented superdesigner Jonathan for the much applauded website design and not least her beloved ‘manwife’ Noo (Andrew) for building the website working 14 hour days with her, managing OUAB’s day-to-day operations, keeping her fed and safe from burnout.