To Ugg or not Ugg?

Monika Searcy

Uggs have been in the market since 1978 and it was not until 2002 that the young, hip generation of Southern California certified them the “it” shoe.

Or, better yet, the media queen herself deemed them the must-have shoe in 2000 on her show and, once Oprah touches a product, it turns to gold.

The Ugg company used even more celebrity appeal by using people such as Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson, who every young blonde Californian wants to be when they grow up, photographed in them to send out the message that “hot girls wear cold shoes in hot weather and you should too.”

We all know our sunny weather does not complement those wool shoes; perhaps that is why Paris always said, “that’s hot,” because her feet were hot.

So what do we do?

We fall into the trend and go Ugg crazy.

Stores everywhere at one point in time were sold out and even had the audacity to have a sold out waiting list!

This house-slipper looking shoe gone fabulous boot was hotter than a turkey the night before Thanksgiving.

To not have a pair of Uggs was a crime amongst young trendy girls even though the lowest our temperature gets in Southern California is about 40 degrees and the shoe looks like it belongs in the snow.

Creator, Brian Smith was from Australia, but decided to bring his sheepskin boot idea to Southern California and make a home for them amongst the surfers.

So that is where the weather-confused wardrobe associated with Uggs comes from and here we are today anticipating a cold-weather winter so that we can throw on our Uggs with our short denim skirts, long sleeve tops and a scarf to complete the look.

I’ll admit that I was an Ugg addict myself, scrambling the malls craving and desiring to step in the most comfortable shoe allowed in fashion, purchasing them in various lengths and colors to broaden my options.

Short and pink, tall and tan, tall and black with the hard bottom, and the list goes on and on until I just looked at my collection and had an epiphany.

My closet is turning into a sheep funeral ground!

We must face the music and realize that all trends come to an end.

What was hot yesterday is not today and Uggs are not as prestigious as they once were.

A few years ago, they were sold at select upscale stores at no sale price.

That meant if you had a pair, you spent a pretty dollar, which always adds to a fad’s popularity.

Now, you can find a pair of knock-offs at your local grocery store half off!

The supply now out weighs the demand and that’s a hint that their reign is over.

It will be difficult letting those comfortable sheep boots go, but I must move on and leave the Uggs behind.

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