Have a thing for handbags? How passé!

This summer, all the cool chicks are obsessing over another accessory: belts.

Some choose to cinch their waists with large, braided belts that buckle at their waists, while other gals prefer to pay homage to Studio 54 by wearing small, rope-y versions that are not much thicker than a pencil.

Needless to say, belts are showing up with great regularity around the waists of the hip-but-hipless women on the NYC party circuit. At a recent party given by Ford Music at the club Spa, for instance, much of the crowd was in a belted state.

But you don’t have to have a Pilates-toned bod to work this waist-centric look – just a couple of belt loops.