Ugg Boots – though now a popular fashion accessory world-wide, are very much an Aussie icon. Made from sheepskin, with the white, fluffy fleece on the inside for cosy toes and the more practical smooth suede on the outside – they are they epitome of both comfort and “daggyness”.
Uggs were popularised during the 60’s and 70’s by surfers who took them with them to the USA on the surfing circuit. Ugg boots in Australia are a generic term for any flat soled, pull-on sheepskin boot as described above but USA company, Deckers had different ideas and have trademarked their Ugg brand.
Their attempt to claim Ugg as a brand worked in the US and Europe and is highly protected but in Oz, it was a different story and the courts upheld that here it is a generic term and cannot be claimed as a brand. Damn them!
They’re ours – so bugger off Deckers!
Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson and other celebrities have glamourised and popularised the humble Ugg boot and turned it into high fashion. But in Oz, it still has a bit of the “bogun” about it and is frequently worn by blokes with Stubbies, fleece shirt and a mullet haircut.
Thanks to Skinny’s Redcliffe for the loan of the boots for the photo.
