Once rad, Uggs outstay welcome

Last winter, mullet-sporting, Rhinegold-guzzling hipsters cruised the Lower East Side bar scene in the chestnut brown boots du jour - the Ugg.

But this winter, many ditched their Uggs when they became the boots of choice for, well, almost everyone. Regular gals and guys all over New York succumbed to the Ugg obsession, following Ugg-wearing celebrities like Kate Hudson, Cameron Diaz and even Tom Cruise.

"I don't think Uggs are a good-looking shoe, but at the end of the day, they are cozy and comfortable," said Kusum Lynn, senior fashion editor of Nylon magazine. "It's unfortunate that they have become as popular as they have. Come next season anyone who wears them is going to look passe. All my friends who've had them forever are pissed."

When in stock, the regular retail price of Uggs is $110. Yet the boots are so hard to get your hands on at the moment that they are currently being sold on eBay for as much as $450 a pair, and knock-off Uggs are sprouting up from brands like Steve Madden and Emu Australia.

Originally worn by surfers in Australia as a post-surfing beach boot to keep ocean-soaked, wrinkly bare feet at a neutral temperature, the boots consumers rejected the boots the first time they were marketed in New York in 1978 by an Australian surfer.
But after the trend was picked up in Los Angeles late last year, New Yorkers quickly caught on.

NYU students also grabbed onto the craze, sporting an array of different styles. But according to many students and fashion experts, the Ugg may not survive the spring.

Olga Ovokendo, vice-president of the Fashion Business Association at NYU, said that before Uggs took over New York in Spring 2003, they were an, "alternate-surfer-post-hangover-on-a-Sunday look" that looked great paired with "minis and sheer tops during the day."

But despite admitting the practicality of the sheepskin boots in the winter cold, Ovokendo now proclaims Uggs "pretty irrelevant in today's fashion scene," and said that anyone who wears them looks like a "fashion victim."

Now Ugg-owning students are faced with a dilemma: keep their Uggs and look outdated, or brave the market to sell the boot.

"My friends are trying to get rid of their Uggs by selling them on eBay," said Cindy Shannon, public relations director of the Fashion Business Association at NYU and a sophomore in the General Studies Program. "I think they are terribly ugly. Also, it's gotten to the point where everyone is wearing them, so soon they will crave something original."

Despite the prediction that Uggs will consign a buyer to fashion victimhood, they are reportedly still in high demand. Either some are late to catch onto the Ugg-ditching trend or the boots are simply too comfortable to live without.

Daniel Tse, an employee of New York Ugg boutique Reno Fashion Group on LaGuardia Place, said Uggs are sold out in his store in all normal sizes until early April and that a waitlist for the boots is already forming.

If the Ugg is replaced with something other than an imitation, the answer, some claim, may be the so-called "glam boots" - polka-dotted, rubber, rain boots popping up in stores like Urban Outfitters.

And when warm weather comes closer, classic shoes like flip-flops, which Nylon's Lynn said he'll be wearing, Chuck Taylors and moccasins will be the in thing.

"I'll always love the pump and huaraches," said Meghan Sutherland, an editor at Paper magazine. "And moccasins seem to be approaching the critical mass."

Comfort-seekers will turn to Birkenstocks and the fashion-savvy to black-and-white Chanel-esque high heeled sandals to replace Uggs, Ovokendo said.

Yet for many, high-heel Chanel-esque sandals simply don't have the comfort appeal of the Ugg.

"Some trends are tacky, but I would definitely wear Uggs next winter, because they're comfortable," College of Arts and Science senior Lisa Kim said.

Whether because of fashion or comfort, Uggs are still everywhere.

"Walking down Broadway I counted 14 pairs of Uggs in five minutes," Tisch School of the Arts freshman Alize deRosnay said. "I guess that says it all."