My name is Claudia Butterworth, and I love UGGs. Should I be ashamed? Maybe. Am I ashamed? No.
Look, UGGs get a bad rap. Perhaps it’s because after Paris Hilton made them cool again in the 2000’s with her extensive Juicy Couture tracksuit collection, Gemma Collins from TOWIE also took them on, and they eventually became the boot of ‘I-don’t-give-a-fuck, it’s-Saturday-morning-and-I’m-picking-up-my-Domino’s-pizza-takeway-at-11-am’ and went from cool to pretty grim. But the thing is, as hard as Gemma (bless her) tried her best – I just can’t quit UGGs. Frankly, I’ve never quit UGGs; I’ve just been biding my time hiding them in the back of my closet until the time is right. And here we are. The time is nigh!
It’s just that time of year. It’s too cold for Spring, and your toes always feel like they’re little nuggets of ice connected to your foot, no matter how many woollen socks you wear. So what did I do? I bought a new pair of UGGs. And not just your casual everyday UGGs that everybody and their mother has – no, no. I bought the hot UGGs. The cool UGGs. The UGGs that Kaia Gerber wears daily to her Pilates classes. And you didn’t hear this from me, but I’m convinced it’s how she gets all the hottest darlings of Hollywood to fall for her. I mean I’m sure Kaia Gerber is cool as shit on her own – how could she not be – but are you really telling me that Jacob Elordi isn’t partial to a good pair of UGGs? Come on. Let’s be real.
The hot UGGs in question are in fact the Classic Ultra Mini Boot, and in true Kaia fashion I bought the chestnut colour, which I will in fact wear to Pilates.
Y2K is having its big boom at the moment, and Irina Shayk, Dua Lipa, Kendall Jenner and Elsa Hosk have all been seen sporting a cheeky pair of these divisive-but-I-don’t-want-to-hear-about-it boots.
Personally, I think they deserve to be perennially cool considering Aussie surfers used to wear them after a shred in the 60’s – does that or does that not sound like my ideal shoe??
The big divide when it comes to UGGs (apart from the fact that you either love ‘em or hate ‘em) is the sock-or-not-to-sock question. Personally, I’m a no sock kind of a girl, although bunched up ankle socks do look pretty cool when worn with the mini boots. Maybe Kaia has finally turned me. Me, the girl who refuses to wear socks with sneakers (I’ll only wear socks if I’m wearing boots – actually even then I have a pair of Chloé boots that I refuse to wear socks with – or sport shoes. Blame it on my home country where shoes are optional, even in supermarkets. No shoes, no shirt, my ass).
Apart from chic workout gear that I’ll wear to Pilates or a late brekkie with the girlies, I’ll be wearing my Ugg’s with long, flowy dresses that are perfect to broach that awkward time of chilly sunshine, as well as classic denim shorts and a long-sleeved James Pearse tee when it gets a little warmer, to emulate that Aussie state of mind.
At a glance, Ugg boots look like the ideal winter boot, but they can, and should, be worn all year round. The mini boots are perfect for those of us who don’t want to commit themselves fully to the mid-calf summer Ugg, and frankly even though I won’t be returning from a surf (I wish), they’ll be perfect to warm up my tiny tiny toes as I return from my cold water swim in Hampstead Heath ponds.
Maybe UGGs are not your thing, but frankly I don’t want to hear about it. I’m on the UGG train and I’m never getting off. Choo choo, bitch.