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OPINION COLUMN
My Love/Hate Relationship with Uggs
By Montgomery
Harris
I know Uggs have a very bad rep.
In many ways, I couldn’t agree more. After living four years on Long
Island, NY, and encountering all sorts of people, Uggs came to symbolize
the suburban girl who orders very complicated drinks at Starbucks. The
suburban girl who is also very wealthy and rude.
Now, however, it is hard to take
a trip anywhere without coming across ten people sporting this trend:
housewives tugging around toddlers in the grocery store, preteens with Hanna
Montana tees at school, alternative city kids in knit stripped Uggs, and
college preps pairing Uggs with argyles. In short, Uggs have become as
pervasive as McDonald’s. And it’s hard to say now just what “type” of
person is an Ugg person.
I don’t own Uggs. And I used to
say this proudly, as if my boot selection somehow made me superior to
other people. It doesn’t. If I’ve learned one thing from my younger
sister, who is a shoe expert employed by DSW, it’s this: Uggs are
really, frickin’ comfortable.
Fashion has a bad rep, too. It’s
criticized as shallow and girly, as if girly were bad. This reputation
has been encouraged by people who, quite frankly, have no taste. But I
will agree with fashion’s critics in one aspect only: that comfort is
more important than trendy.
Uggs are both comfortable and
trendy.
I may think that some versions
are a bit of an eyesore. I may have misgivings from past traumatic
experiences with Ugg owners. But I can’t dismiss Uggs (or Fuggs)
altogether. Perhaps now that Uggs have slipped from the domain of a
select few and are available to us lowly masses they can garner a new
reputation for their comfort and use-value.
I promise not to judge you for
owning and wearing them. In fact, I may have warmed up to Uggs just a
little. Still, I think I’ll stick with my Wellingtons. |
