Who loves Ugg boots?
One of Australia's (surprising) garment gifts to the world.
For the past two decades, Ugg boots have adorn the feet of hundreds of thousands of people on streets worldwide... except in two countries.
The thing is an overwhelming majority of people in Australia 🇦🇺 and New Zealand 🇳🇿 would never be caught dead wearing Ugg boots outdoors – doing so is a huge cultural faux pas.
Yes, you've read correctly – you do not wear Ugg boots outside of the home in the fleecy footwear's homeland.
Why is this the case?
Firstly, because they're considered to be slippers. Now would you wear slippers when going to the supermarket or off to work in the office? Nope.
Secondly, in the late 1960s Aussie surfers ('surfies' in Australia) were the first to wear Ugg boots outdoors as the slippers could warm their feet quickly after having been out in the cold ocean waters for hours on end. By the early 1980s, wearing Ugg boots outdoors in Australia and New Zealand had become directly associated with the attire of 'bogans', Australia and New Zealand's underclass (like 'chavs' or 'white trash'), an extremely negative association that has since endured in the collective Aussie and Kiwi psyche.
An example of how ingrained the concept is that Ugg boots are not worn outdoors in Australia...
My parents live in a retirement village. They told me once that word was going around that one of the residents had been displaying signs of dementia. I asked my parents what gave the residents that impression? My mother's answer was 'everyone's seen how the poor dear goes to the shops still wearing her Uggs and she doesn't realise she still has them on'. That's all the proof they needed.
When the start of Covid-19 pandemic led to Australia closing itself off to the world in March 2020, one of the first casualties was the closure of the (US-owned) Ugg stores, all located in major tourist traffic areas. Local Aussies rarely went to these stores; instead, they go buy more affordable Ugg slippers from local suppliers out there, many of them family-run businesses.
Aussies and Kiwis are still shocked when they're overseas to see Ugg boots being worn outdoors and that they're considered to be fashion items. So if you're wearing Ugg boots in public and someone is looking at your feet in that 'what the f...' type of way, no doubt they're from Australia or New Zealand.
💡 Were you aware of this cultural difference? If not, then just imagine what other differences also exist. This is reason enough why it's best to have your marketing material reviewed by someone like me, a person with over 20 years of experience in tailoring written copy and text for the Australian market. For help in wading through the quirks of Australia and its culture and language, talk to me. Drop me a line at info@nicknasev.com and let's get you inside with the Ugg boots!
.%20A%20day%20of%20campaigning%20%E2%99%80%20%E2%80%A6%20or%20a%20day%20to%20buy%20flowers%20%F0%9F%92%90.jpg)
