let it snow
first flurries of snow in detroit today.
this inspired me to consider winter fashions, and to conclude this consideration by saying the following:
ladies, get your Uggs out.
no. for real. get them OUT.
i grew up in maine. for those who don't know, it is very cold in maine and it snows a lot. here are some really embarassing things that might happen to you when you are a kid growing up in such a harsh climate in the 1980s:
1. your mom could drop you off at school in the morning and get out of the car WEARING HER UGGS.
2. somebody cool might see your mom going out to the mailbox IN HER UGGS.
3. your mom comes out to meet the schoolbus in the afternoon, god forbid, WEARING HER UGGS.
this is all to say that where I come from, Uggs are valued for their function and for their ease of use, not for being fashionable. in fact, for most people i know, Uggs emerged from the muck of childhood as a major source of trauma and embarassment.
so this whole Uggs as trend thing is, for a lot of us, the return of the repressed in fashion.
i hope you all enjoy looking like someone's mom circa 1985. because i don't.
this inspired me to consider winter fashions, and to conclude this consideration by saying the following:
ladies, get your Uggs out.
no. for real. get them OUT.
i grew up in maine. for those who don't know, it is very cold in maine and it snows a lot. here are some really embarassing things that might happen to you when you are a kid growing up in such a harsh climate in the 1980s:
1. your mom could drop you off at school in the morning and get out of the car WEARING HER UGGS.
2. somebody cool might see your mom going out to the mailbox IN HER UGGS.
3. your mom comes out to meet the schoolbus in the afternoon, god forbid, WEARING HER UGGS.
this is all to say that where I come from, Uggs are valued for their function and for their ease of use, not for being fashionable. in fact, for most people i know, Uggs emerged from the muck of childhood as a major source of trauma and embarassment.
so this whole Uggs as trend thing is, for a lot of us, the return of the repressed in fashion.
i hope you all enjoy looking like someone's mom circa 1985. because i don't.
posted by sarah ruddy at 16.11.05
4 Comments:
I didn't grow up in a cold weather climate (not that it doesn't get cold in Georgia) but for the past 5 years that I lived in San Diego, I was always dumbfounded to see girls in the summertime wearing their bootylicious ruffleskirts (with matching thongs, a few of which I unfortunately saw) and UGGS. A sight to see! It's interesting to me that UGGS would be reminiscent of childhood embarrassment for you--reminds me of when I asked my mom for PUMAs and she got me the Payless version, CUGA: straight up with two velcro strips and bright white faux leather. I was in the 3rd grade and hid my feet all day long under my desk, I was so embarrassed. Amazing how footwear brings back such memories! ~cindy
pumas (er, "cugas") in 3rd grade !?! how old are you? if it's any consolation now, the older kids were actually searching out CUGAs to wear them in lieu of Pumas for their ironic value. So maybe you were just being subversive at a very young age, if you'd prefer to look at it that way.
my prom date wore a green tie and cumberbund to match his green suede Pumas (real ones this time). There is no positive spin on this. it was just simply disasterous.
And no, I don't have any pictures. They were destroyed in a mysterious fire.
Yes, my childhood embarrassment alla CUGAs is another person's ironic hip fashion. Though I don't think I was being subversive--just embarrassed cause my parents were po' and somehow thought it'd be alright to buy me velcro shoes...bastards! If only I had embraced them as alternative fashion statements--but the CUGAs, the CUGAs--the boy I had a crush on happened to sit right beside me and his family was wealthy...ahhhh the CUGAs!!!
I like your prom date's outfit--very creative!
I'm 27, by the way. ~cindy
Oh, so the "not-that-much-older-kids." Still, if you requested Pumas at that age, you must have been a pretty cool kid. Po parents notwithstanding, I agree that the actual problem was their acceptance of velcro as a viable alternative to "real" shoes.
When I was in 3rd grade (1984), my entire family was kitted out with "Roos" (is that what they're called? the ones with pockets? pockets!?!). And then we went to Florida together. I am guessing that this has to have been more embarassing for my brother. I was only 8. he was 13.
Footwear really is affectively powerful.
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