UGG-ly?
Written, Styled, and Creatively Directed By Julia Kulik (@juleskulik)
Photographed By Nyasia Gray (@saliyahs.photos)
I never really cared about my shoes until I discovered UGGs. The year was 2012. I was eight years old and obsessed with the Disney channel and pop icons like Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus strutting the streets in UGG boots and Juicy tracksuits. Seemingly, out of nowhere, every kid in my class owned a pair of UGGs except me. Britney and Miley wore them, and now I wanted to wear them too. My best friend at the time had the cutest pair of Chesnut brown Bailey Bow UGGs, and I wanted nothing more than to match with her and Miley. For months, I begged and pleaded with my mom for a pair of grey Bailey Bow UGG boots, pining over them until that fateful Christmas morning when I giddily opened the box to my first pair of UGGs. I tore open the bright blue Frosty the Snowman wrapping paper to reveal the tan shoe box holding the key to my little eight-year-old heart.
I wore those grey Bailey Bows everywhere. To school, to church, to the grocery store, to the playground, no matter where I went, my UGGs came with me. They even came with me to a funeral or two and on a trip to Hershey Park. I wore them with leggings, pants, skirts, dresses, you name it, and I probably wore UGGs with them. Once, much to my mother’s dismay, I even tried to wear them with a bathing suit. Unfortunately, she didn’t care for my UGGs as much as I did. She called them “UGG-ly.” Eleven years later, even Mom has a few pairs of her own. Regardless of her opinion, I wore my UGGs with pride.
Every holiday season, there’s that one UGG style that everyone wants. UGG has done it all, from Bailey Bows to Tasman slippers to the latest platform mini boots. But how has the brand managed to stay relevant for over two decades? How did a brand that started as shoes to keep surfers’ feet warm become one of Oprah’s (and America’s) favorite things?
The Origin of UGG
Designed initially to keep surfers’ feet warm after getting out of the water, UGG Australia was established in 1978, and the Classic Boot was a smash success, becoming a symbol of SoCal beach culture amongst surfers and beachgoers alike. The American-owned UGG Australia brand (that’s right, we’ve all been wearing knockoffs) has made founder Brian Smith a millionaire. As he told Forbes Magazine, “Importing six pairs of boots as samples, I [Smith] registered UGG as the trademark and settled down to be an instant millionaire.” Humble, right? Despite the American brand’s initial lack of authenticity, it has grown to become a massive success. During the 1994 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Norway, the US Olympic team wore (American) UGG boots.
The U.S. Team at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Uggs
In 1995, Deckers Brands purchased the UGG Australia brand from Smith. In 2016, UGG Australia was renamed simply “UGG” due to confusion between UGG Since 1974 (the real Australian UGG brand) and UGG Australia.
From Hot to Not
UGGs began to become mainstream fashion trends in 2000 when they were featured in Oprah’s annual Favorite Things episode. Celebrities such as Kate Moss and Paris Hilton were seen wearing them, and UGG boots went from casual surfer shoes to fashion items with a cult following.
Oprah’s Favorite Things and Kate Moss
Take singer and pop culture icon Britney Spears, for example. The “Princess of Pop” owned tons of UGGs in the 2000s, wearing a different pair with every outfit, from denim shorts and tank tops to Juicy Couture tracksuits. As a high-profile musician, Britney was usually put in performance costumes like tight-fitting latex bodysuits and bikini tops with short skirts, creating an image of a strong, sexy woman, but not necessarily a comfortable one. Her UGGs were a casual and comfortable juxtaposition to her elaborate performance wear while still exuding style and not looking completely “frumpy.”
Numerous other celebrities like Beyoncé, Ashley Tisdale, Miley Cyrus, Eva Longoria, Vanessa Hudgens, and Mel B. popularized UGGs, but Britney established them as a symbol of comfort meets luxury. Styled with Juicy Couture tracksuits, low-rise denim, and yoga pants, UGGs are considered a Y2K fashion staple. The inner Disney Channel kid in me lives on whenever I put on my good old, faithful UGGs.
From left to right: Ashley Tisdale, Beyoncé, Vanessa Hudgens, Miley Cyrus, and Eva Longoria
Personally, if I were ever lucky enough to get my hands on an original Juicy tracksuit, I wouldn’t dare wear this iconic outfit with any other shoes but UGGs. However, I’m happy we can leave certain UGG styles in the past (I’m looking at you, UGG Fluffie flip-flops). Haven’t seen them before? Good. Let’s leave them in 2009. Anyways...
Despite their incredible popularity in the 1990s and early 2000s, UGGs began to slip into obscurity during the 2010s. UGGs became more popular amongst children and less popular in the fashion mainstream.
Enter the Bailey Bow boots—the most wanted shoes of any child who grew up in the 2010s. My first pair of UGGs were my precious grey Bailey Bow boots, a treasured member of my wardrobe from second grade until I wore holes into them during my sophomore year of high school. My second pair of Bailey Bow boots, in the classic Chestnut color, stuck with me from age nine to nineteen, from fourth grade to my sophomore year of college, miraculously still fitting despite my increasing shoe size.
Although the Bailey Bows were quite popular amongst younger consumers, the high fashion society had not yet held UGGs in high regard as they do today. UGGs were out, passé, over. That is, until their resurgence in 2020.
Back Into the Mainstream
Another famous brand, SKIMS, is at the forefront of loungewear. SKIMS is a shapewear and loungewear brand that has been massively successful. Something that drives the popularity of brands such as SKIMS and UGG is the general mindset of consumers post-pandemic: They don’t want to try to “dress up” but also want to look dressed up enough to be taken seriously and put together.
Consumers' priorities and needs shifted drastically when the world stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. There became an emphasis on comfort, with loungewear and athleisure at the forefront of fashion during lockdown. UGG’s sales skyrocketed, with “the quarter ending on September 30 [2020], Deckers, UGG’s parent company, reported a 2.5% increase in brand net sales for UGG, with $415.1 million compared to $404.9 million for the same period in 2019” according to a December 2020 article from Refinery29. Some may attribute this increase to quarantine boredom. I attribute it to fashion.
But what caused the shift from a lull in sales to skyrocketing popularity? How did UGGs go from hot to not and back to hot again? Like many trends of decades past, UGGs came back into the spotlight roughly 20 years after their initial popularity. The trend cycle is no secret to fashion aficionados. Still, in the case of UGG, this phenomenon is particularly fascinating due to the amount of hate it received during its time on the lower level of the fashion pyramid. UGGs weren’t just out of style; they were UGG-ly. UGGs were read for filth in style magazines and looked down upon by fashion-forward shoppers.
Like Miley Cyrus returning from her “wild” phase, UGG pulled itself back into the mainstream. The Tasman and Disquette slippers became immensely popular, especially amongst teenagers and young adults looking for comfortable shoes to slip on to wear to class. I remember the Tasman craze, with parents everywhere in a frenzy to get their hands on a pair to give their children for the holidays. I didn’t think they were all that cute, but I still wanted to try them. They had to be good if everyone else wanted them, right? I received a pair of UGG Tasman slippers for Christmas in 2019, during my sophomore year of high school, right before the pandemic hit. They were so unbelievably comfortable and versatile that they became my fall/winter wardrobe staple. Though scuffed and stretched out, I wear them frequently four years later. They can be styled with anything!
Another main factor in UGGs' resurgence is their rising presence on social media. During the pandemic, TikTok became a driving force in social commerce, especially fashion. TikTok has become a platform for influencers to create and promote trends, and UGG has significantly benefitted from this practice.
Because the pandemic gave people more time to scroll online, consumers became enamored with platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest more than ever before. This surge in interest led to increased brand awareness of companies like UGG and a higher number of online sales.
Not only have UGGs snuck onto all our screens, they’ve also snuck onto the runways. An early example of this is UGG’s first collaboration with Jimmy Choo for Choo’s 2011 Cruise line, which was, frankly, a hot mess but also revolutionary. Why? Jimmy Choo gave UGG its runway debut, all completely by accident. Tamara Mellon, co-founder of Jimmy Choo, described the inspiration behind the collaboration: “Uggs were my guilty pleasure until I was on a flight to London, and the airline staff said, ‘We’re all so excited to see what shoes you’re wearing!’ I had Uggs on. So now we’ve done a collaboration where I took traditional Uggs and decorated them with the DNA of Jimmy Choo — animal prints and studs.” I had long forgotten about this collection until recently when a style influencer came up on my TikTok “For You” page wearing none other than a pair of fringe nightmares- also known as Jimmy Choo UGGs.
While I love both brands, we can all agree that this blast from the past can be left behind. In recent years, we’ve also seen a collaboration with Telfar in 2021 (which is still in stores, by the way) and Tolu Coker for the Autumn/Winter 2024 runway. Neither is particularly to my taste, but they are important, nonetheless. They represent the continuation of the “comfort meets luxury” path paved by the UGGs of the early 2000s.
No Uggs are Ugg-ly
Today, the most popular UGG shoe is the Classic Mini Platform boot, a modernized version of the original classic boot. Always sold out in UGG stores and on their website, the Classic Mini Platform boot is one of the most sought-after shoes on the market. It has been the “it-shoe” of the past three winters, exceeding in popularity past any of its predecessors. The shoe has become a modern streetwear staple worn by models Bella and Gigi Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, and Hailey Bieber.
I prefer the Classic Mini, which I received as a birthday gift last year in chestnut. The great thing is, there’s a UGG for every style; whether you need a cozy and practical slipper for running a quick winter errand or a bold, “wearable work of art” platform boot for standing out in class, UGG has you covered. No matter which style you choose, it is undeniable that UGGs are back on trend and here to stay (as long as you never style them with a bathing suit!) Don’t know how to pick a pair? Check out my picks of UGG’s latest styles here!
