As the weather gets more frigidly freezing than it has all season, more and more students can be seen traipsing around the campus, wearing the same ridiculously overpriced trends they have all year.
Have you ever gone to the bathroom, checked under the stalls to see if one was free and seen a solid row of Ugg boots? Or walked behind a pack of girls all wearing the same North Face fleece in slightly different colors? If you have, you are witnessing the perplexing national trend of rugged outdoors wear becoming the equivalent of high-end campus fashion.
These trends have been around for the past few years, exacerbated by sorority girls and hipsters alike, but the question is quite simple: Why? The main staples of the rugged-outdoors look are not only vaguely silly looking, but also ludicrously expensive. So why is it that the trend so intensely holds the attention of college students?
Ugg boots, which many naysayers have nicknamed “Fug Boots,” have been capitalized on in recent years by the Deckers Outdoor Corporation, who registered the trademark UGG Australia in 1999. Since then, they have become increasingly popular footwear, especially on college campuses.
Before they became an American icon, “ughs,” as they were called in their native Australia, were actually used for high altitude or extremely cold conditions, mostly by outdoorsmen such as farmers or surfers. “Ugg,” which is actually Australian slang for ugly, is also just a common term for boots made of sheepskin and wool on the island continent. Here, however, Uggs have turned into just another brand name, worth around $150 a pop. Go figure for a product that simply went by “ugly” in its homeland.
The North Face is another company that began with humble roots in outdoorsy athletic equipment yet somehow evolved into the most commonly seen logo on the campus. The North Face fleeces are among the most popular, now sold in an array of colors, including flux purple (light purple), odyssey pink (medium purple) and black cherry purple (dark purple). Who knew so many shades of purple existed? Wow.
Although they made their debut a few years ago, Timberland boots are yet another example of a fashion trademark that originally came with a practical use and reasonable price tag. Hiking, mountain climbing and even construction work were the first foray for Timberland boots – at least until hip-hop culture adopted them. By the time the trend’s peak had come and gone, Timberlands had evolved from useful footwear into freakishly pointy-toed stilettos that Jennifer Lopez made famous in one of her videos.
Over the years, many unexpected brands have been pushed into the spotlight and splurged on by students everywhere. But, unfortunately, as grunge was to the early ’90s, “wilderness chic” is to our generation. And while Calvin Klein jeans did capitalize somewhat on the times with their line of ripped jeans, anyone could participate in the trend with a flannel shirt and raggedy wardrobe. Our times, though, are more brand-oriented, with emphasis on the logo and not the look.
And as tradition will have it, every few years a product becomes so popular that a rash of crimes will break out that involve people stealing it from other people on the street. In 2005, a group of teenagers in Washington were caught stealing North Face jackets from random strangers and then reselling them for a profit. The demand for these jackets is so high that there is a counterfeit market for them – comparable to high-end purses such as Coach – probably because a higher-end winter jacket can go for upwards of $500.
Either companies are getting smarter or consumers are getting more gullible, but either way, today’s brands are banking on our necessity to fit in. The current college generation is dropping a lot of cash on hardcore weather gear that they really don’t need unless they are planning on climbing a mountain to get to class (the hill next to Stamp Student Union does not count) or avoiding frostbite.
Even with the excuse that the fashions are comfortable and maybe even slightly practical for campus life, it is more likely that your cash is going toward a brand and not to comfort. So if you actually like the bulky, unsightly Uggs (accept the ugliness Рthe Australians already have), then go ahead and buy them. But think twice about whether or not you need a $150 pair of boots or an equally expensive fleece jacket Рor if you could be wiser and spend your money on something a little more flattering and a lot less clich̩.
Contact reporter Courtney Pomeroy at cpomeroy@umd.edu.
