Ugg boots

Short length Ugg boots.

Ugg boots, or simply uggs, is a generic term for a type of sheepskin boot which has been made in Australia and New Zealand for nearly 200 years. They were originally called ug boots or ugh boots, which is short for "ugly"; however, the American importer Koolaburra introduced the idea that the name comes from the way it "hugs" the foot and leg. Due to trademark issues (see below), uggs are often known in the retail world by the more generic term sheepskin boots.

Usage

In Australia and New Zealand, this comfortable, warm footwear has been adopted by social groups such as bogans, westies, and bevans as acceptable in public. Most other Australians only wear ugg boots around the house, or at the most trips no further than the local corner shop. The boots have also been popular with surfers and competitive swimmers since at least the 1960s, for keeping warm while out of the water.

Although many popular Australian actors have probably worn ugg boots in private at some point, it was a Canadian, Pamela Anderson, who started wearing ugg boots acquired in Australia to keep her legs warm between takes for the television show Baywatch, and it was this that may well have originally spurred interest in these boots in America.

Since 2003, these boots have become very fashionable in the U.S., partly due to marketing by an American company, Ugg Australia, a branch of Deckers Outdoor Corporation. Brian Smith created the Ugg Australia brand in the US, importing them to the US in the late seventies. He sold the company to Deckers Outdoors in 1995. Actress Kate Hudson wore a pair of ugg boots on the poster for the mid-2004 movie Raising Helen. They were associated also with the Anglo-American actress Sienna Miller and boho-chic (c2003-5). the Sheepskin footwear is now a major category in most US department stores and retail shoe stores. Popular brands available in the US today are Emu, Koolaburra, UGG and Warmbat.

In Canada, Ugg boots have become immensely popular footwear amongst females at many Ontario universities. The boots have also become popular on some U.S. campuses.

Although ugg boots are generally available worldwide in sizes for both men and women, and styles are virtually identical, more women than men currently wear them, at least in the US. This has given rise to colors (lavender, pastels) targeted at the female market.

Natural properties of the sheepskin leather used in the vast majority of ugg boots results in thermostatic benefits. Thick fleecy fibres on the inner part of ugg boots allows air to circulate during summer so your feet don't become excessively warm. The natural thermal properties of sheepskin ensure warmth in colder climates.

The fleecy inner padding of ugg boots can be quite thick (up to 1 inch). If you are unsure of the correct size ugg boots for your feet it is beneficial to select half a size smaller than you normally would. The sheepskin leather will stretch to meet the contours of your feet over time. Due to the thermostatic properties of sheepskin ugg boots are not designed to be warn with socks.

Trademark issues

For a time, Deckers Outdoor Corporation owned the trademark "ugh-boot" in Australia, and through additional international trademarks were able to limit the term's use in Australia. They were successful suing other ugg importers, most notably Koolaburra, one of the largest US importers of ugg boots still made in Australia. Deckers' Ugg Australia, Emu, Old Friend, and Aussie Dogs are all made in China (a few models may still be made in New Zealand). Unfortunately, that meant plenty of Australian made ugg boots could not be so named by US retailers.

Owing to US trademark laws, many Australian and US manufacturers are now marketing ugg boots as "sheepskin boots".

In January 2006 Bruce and Bronwyn McDougall, owners of Uggs-N-Rugs, were successful in having Deckers Outdoor Corporation's Australian trademark for Ugh-boot removed from the Australian Trademarks Registry, after the trademarks office handed down their decision the words ug boots, ugg boots and ugh boots were interchangeable and generic terms for sheepskin boots.

External Links

• The Good, The Bad and the Ugg Boot - documentary film on the trademark dispute (see also Australian Film Commission database)