You may have been one of those girls who once donned a pair of Ugg boots. Let’s face it, you more than likely were. The boots seemed to suddenly disappear a few years back, but the brand has resurfaced with Alexa Chung as the face. Will this aid a comeback, or have the uggs truly died out forever?
On a personal note: I was one of “those girls” who had a pair of uggs. In fact, I recall having a black pair, a brown pair and even a grey pair. Warm, soft and comfy; my feet loved them. I used to love slipping them on before leaving the house. Ok, so none of the pairs were ever the “real thing” – but that didn’t really matter at the time. You just needed to have a pair, or to say you had a pair, and you were “cool” and “fashionable”. Probably the only time comfort trumped style.
In all honesty, I wouldn’t go anywhere near the boots now that I realise they just aren’t that great. They don’t do anything for the figure of any woman and the knock-offs only made your feet roll in and you would end up waddling around. We have the ducks on campus for that. Save your feet.
Looking back, I do see the boots as a total fashion faux pas. They’re not exactly stylish in reality, are they? Well, the knock-offs weren’t at least. But it’s not like we are alone girls; Jennifer Anniston, Eva Longoria, and even fashion queen Kate Moss have worn them. And to be honest that’s probably why we thought we were supposed to be wearing them too.
They were one of those trends that I’m not really sure how it began, so in true university research style, I delved a little deeper.
Of Australian origin, the Ugg dates back to mid-20th century and didn’t even have a proper sole back then! And would you believe it, the name of the boot itself is even thought to have been coined from “ugly boot” (because let’s face it, that’s what they are). The UGG brand that we now know adopted the whole sheepskin boot idea and has been going since.
Despite all of my distaste, UGG seem the be resurfacing again of late. Most likely trying to reach out to a younger audience yet again, Alexa Chung is the face of their Autumn “New Classics” range. It’s no surprise they chose someone known so well for her style, that fashion-lovers across the world try to emanate. However, I wouldn’t have said I associate with the boots, they don’t seem like something she’d ever wear. But for now we’ll take her word for it.
So the question is, is Chung really going to ever make these boots cool again? Personally, I don’t think we’re ever going to go back to the ugg boot the way we did when the trend first took off, they’re just not special or even remotely stylish now.
However, having looked on UGG’s website, I’m pretty enthralled by the street-style pics of “style icons” genuinely rocking the boots and making them actually look chic. (Can someone please tell me how to do this?!) And then when I saw a pair on a fellow student the other day, I actually thought to myself, maybe they’re not too shabby after all. What’s your stance? Tweet us @SCANfashion.
