How I learned to stop worrying and love the Ugg

So for many years now I have been saying how much I hate uggs. I mean they really are not a fashion statement. But now I live in perpetual winterlandia and I have come to understand that fashion does not always coincide with utility. So about 4 years ago it happened, the ugg fad hit California and it hit hard. Women wearing shearling, super tall boots with mini skirts in the dead of summer? Only in LA…and I can say this having spent a majority of my life in that ridiculously wonderful land made up of people who really just don’t know but more importantly dont' care that they dont' know. Yes, what makes LA so wonderful is that they acknowledge that sometimes they are silly and dont' make any sense but they are ok with that. I saw them in magazines and Emily and I would talk about how ugly they were and how ridiculous they were but deep down in our heart of hearts we would make drunken confessions of how we actually really kind of did want uggs because in reality they seemed like really comfy “rolling out of bed, showing up late to class in my pijamas” shoes. So anyways, after much discussion we finally decided to take the plunge and just say “fuck my morals, I’m buying uggs!” I bought the normal tan ones and she bought the blue ones. Well I must say I got some real use out of them and I thought, hot damn these are some comfortable, well made shoes. But let it be known that i never never wore them with skirts or jeans tucked in or anythign silly liek that. Liek i said, i treated it more like a slipper to throw on in dire situations (which there were a lot of that year). Then ugg came out with all these new styles and I thought…shit I kind of really want the super tall dark brown ones, but I can’t can’t can’t buy another pair of uggs. I mean really what kind of person would that make me?? Besides I lived in california and I even I, in all my LAness acknowledged that this was really unnecessary.

Flash forward 2 years later, I move to Michigan, I’m not really a huge slipper person because I just never really understood the need for slippers. I’ve always been more of a sock person. But then October hit and I thought “damn my feet are cold even in socks. I wish someone would invent some kind of insulated shoe that I could wear when I get out of bed…oh wait THAT’S WHAT SLIPPERS ARE FOR!” This has generally characterized what my experience with cold weather has been like, lots of “oh I get it!” moments. So I went back home to LA for thanksgiving break and I was telling my mom how cold it was. The me now would love to go back to the me 3 months ago just so I could laugh at my own stupidity. Anyways we did one of our typical trips to south coast and my dad offered to buy me slippers. I opted for the cheaper ones, not wanting to be that typical only child who gets whatever she wants. But then my mom was like…if you buy something you should buy good quality. Also I am an only child so fuck it, who cares. So anyways i remembered this guy i knew in college who was actually a pretty cool guy in the "i dont' give a fuck what people think" sense, and i remember him waxing on about the wonders of his ugg slippers and how he had purchased some in his youth and would never go back to normal slippers. So i thought, you knwo what, i'm gonna do it. i'm gonna take the plunge and buy some Ugg slippers and see what i think. So this is what i ended up getting

They are suuuuper warm, actually have really good foot support and have very good snow boot type soles such that if I ever have to quickly run outside to grad something I wont’ slip and fall. Would I buy another pair of ugg slippers when these get too old to you? Oh my god YES! Would I recommend to all my friends who live in cold weather to purchase a pair? Most definitely.

Then came winter boot shopping time. After my slipping on black ice experience early on I came to realize the importance of having shoes that were actually made for the snow. The first drop of snow came and it was like a giant ugg monster came and attacked ann arbor. Literally 9 out of every 10 girls busted out some variation of the original ugg. It was a bit too much for me. What made it even funnier is that most dumb girls (namely Californians) purchase this variation of the ugg.

If you notice the sole actually does not have very good traction and therefore it is not a good snow shoe. On the other hand this model actually is made for cold, snow weather because the sole is completely different.

Anyways all these dumb ass California girls were running around in their “snow boots” not realizing that they had purchased the wrong boot. We are idiots, I am included in there. Well I had considered possibly purchasing another new and improved pair of uggs but after seeing all the freshman girls wearing uggs with those stupid Victoria secret “pink” ass sweat pants I made a instant decision. I just would not go there. Ney I COULD not go there. But I started thinking, “damn I wish instead of making these boots of these shoes that you have to water proof, that they would just make some boots that were actually leather, same concept as the ugg but different." Low and behold ugg started making some very cool new styles this year. In fact they made exactly what I wanted, a very dark antiqued type brown water proof leather tall boot with a kind of cool old looking fur on the inside, such that when you rolled it out it kind of looked like you wear wearing a bomber jacket on your foot, like such.

Now this all kind blew my mind because i think rolling out the uggs is really stupid and the shoes themselves are just really stupid, but damnit if i didn't really want these shoes. So i said again "i will give them a try and see how i feel." We are now in the heart of winter and I wear these boots almost everyday and they are extremely extremely good. I can walk for miles in them, they keep the whole lower part of my leg totally warm, my feet don’t get wet, I never slip, and they don’t look terribly unattractive and sloppy as most uggs tend to look. I guess you could say, I am a believer. I have come to understand the value of a good shoe, in a way that I could never fathom in California. now to all of you who are judging me right now i say, do you live in the midwest???? Do you trudge through a mile and a half of snow every day?? oh, no? then SHUT UP! Don't judge me until you've walked a mile in my ugg boots.

I still think that peopel who live in LA and wear uggs are stupid, but i also understand why so many people own them. Because in the end I am not making a fashion statement, I am just trying to get to class without getting frostbiten toes.

And thus goes the story of how I learned to stop worrying and love the ugg