Ugg shoes and Ugg boots. High-end fashion for sure. But, as Shakespeare asked, what’s in a name? Quite a lot. Of money.
Let’s start with the basics first.
Ugg Australia brand boots are stylish sheepskin boots for men and women. The luxury label has now expanded into shoes and slippers. Its line of accessory items includes not only the obligatory handbags, but pillows and even rugs!
But Ugg Australia, despite its name, isn’t Australian. It’s American. And, indeed, that may be precisely why it’s got “Australia” in its name!
You see, “uggs” are a generic “Anzac” (Australian/New Zealander) term for sheepskin boots. Has been for a long time. Like two hundred years. Apparently, it was short for “ugly.” And despite being worn in China and the Arctic for even longer, it was in Australia and New Zealand that they have found modern popularity, where uggs are regarded as casual wear. Anzac surfers and swimmers used them simply to keep their feet warm when out of the water. One such young man emigrated to the United States, starting up the company Uggs Australian, which was bought by Decker Outdoor Corporation almost two decades later. The company then decided to copyright the term “Uggs,” including various alternative spellings and derivative terms, eventually resulting in legal controversy that ultimately saw its monopoly over the word rescinded by Australian courts. However, exclusive rights are still maintained in the United States and the European Union, the largest markets in the world.
Uggs – sheepskin boots – were more commonly seen on high-altitude aviators. Almost all airmen in the European Theater during World War II wore them. They were also used in World War I, and common sights on ski slopes. They have been fashionable only since the year 2000, though undoubtedly the groundswell was building for some time. Sheepskin’s naturally insulating properties make the boots wearable without socks in rather cold weather. Thus it a common use for uggs before their debut as runway couture was as footwear for retrieving the mail or picking up local groceries.
College coeds were among the first enthusiastic adopters of uggs, and now they are available in a wide variety of colors. Much liberty, too, has been taken with the overall look, especially by upscale fashion houses like Ugg Australia, such that some of their uggs are not even short, but tall and almost knee-high!
