It is a cold winter day: below-freezing temperatures, blaring chills, and unforgiving winds. Your ears and cheeks are a frosty red and liquid is dripping from your nose. You desperately yearn for one thing more than anything right now. Is it a toasty cup of hot chocolate? A thick wool scarf to cover your face? Nope. It’s for fur to envelop your feet and make you feel you are stepping on clouds. Is it unreasonable? Perhaps to some. But UGGs, arguably the trendiest shoe brand as of recently, offers just that. What is the history behind UGGs? And why is it currently the most desired shoe of Gen Z? That is what I set out to discover.
Firstly, I was surprised to learn that UGG, contrary to its wintery associations, originated in the surfing scene of Australia. I guess Australian surfers of the 1950s had something in common with teens in the 2020s, the longing for warm feet that could only be satiated by a pair of ugly boots. Don’t raise your pitchforks just yet. The word ‘ugg’ quite literally is an Australian slang term that means ‘ugly.’ Never would have guessed.
Nevertheless, ugly or not, it cannot be denied that everyone is wearing UGGs. They are everywhere in real life and online. Personally, there is not one day that I go without seeing someone rocking the iconic shoes, from your friends and classmates to your favorite influencers and celebrities. In fact, celebrities have played a very valuable role in marketing the shoe brand, catalyzing the popularity of UGGs both in the present and in the past.
I’m sure everyone is aware of the UGG craze that took over the 2000s. Popular celebrities such as Kate Moss and Paris Hilton were constantly paparazzied sporting the infamous long uggs along with bright-colored tracksuits and chunky sunglasses. The effects were obvious; UGGs became the dream shoe of every teenage girl at the time.
20 years later, history seems to have repeated itself and UGG is bigger than ever. For many years now uggs have been considered a classic for the wintertime due to its boot structure and warm furry interior, but that’s it, they were only that. That was until the 2020s when a newly released style took off. Take the original UGG boot, make it shorter, and there you have mini UGGs and ultra mini UGGs. It became a massive hit. Celebrities are at the forefront of the trend once again: Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner are well-known trendsetters of the shoe, maintaining the ‘model off-duty’ image of uggs.
However, this time around, UGGs are bigger than just celebs. The existence of huge social media sites has propelled the popularity of uggs even further. The social media site to point out is TikTok, a fan-favorite app among Gen Z. On TikTok, trends spread like wildfire and it didn’t take long for everyone on the app to become obsessed with the new version of UGGs.
“This is one of our most precious styles, and boy, do we have the viral-status receipts to prove it,” UGG states in the product description of their ultra mini platform uggs.
So what’s the deal with uggs? Do they deserve their popularity? And should you hop on the trend and get a pair?
A few weeks ago I invested in my very own pair of UGGs and could understand the hype behind them. They’re comfortable, practical, warm, and cute. Their appearance may be debated by some, but I think a good chunk of people can agree that the new uggs are absolutely adorable. They also accomplish their job of keeping your feet cozy and protected from shivering temperatures. However, it should also be noted that there are growing criticisms online about the depreciating quality of uggs and their shelf life. These TikTok critics claim that the new trending uggs don’t last as long as their 2000s predecessors. Still, UGG is yet to confirm or deny any claims and I personally have not been a victim of ‘bad-quality uggs.’
The conclusion? I think UGGs deserve their popularity. There is no other boot brand that has stood the test of time as well as UGG. They have proven themselves again and again as iconic winter staples. If you’re on the fence or have been thinking of getting one for a while now, I say go for it, you likely will be yearning for a pair anyway.
