Ugg Boots: Not all sheepskin is created equal…. Part 1

You may be thinking the middle of July is a strange time to talk about sheepskin products, the demand for sheepskin is usually more of a winter craze. As the #1 Independent Retailer of UGG Australia products, Takken’s employees know exactly how crazy it gets. It has gotten to the point that, much like in demand concert tickets or a venue for your wedding, sheepskin boots for the holiday season are best snagged months in advance. For those of you who know Australian sheepskin boots will be on the Christmas lists of your loved ones and want to make sure you can be the holiday hero, purchasing them in October, September, and even August is not unrealistic. By the time you get to November, the craze is in full swing and availability will be scarce.

The first thing to realize about sheepskin boots is that they are not all created equal. You’ve probably already noticed that some brands are upwards of $200 and some are sitting right around $30 for what appears to be the same boot. The motivation for owning a pair of sheepskin boots can help you determine how much you should expect to shell out. If you’re buying the boot for someone who just wants the look, then the $30 pair will work out just fine. If you’re buying the boot for a label conscious trendsetter, you’re going to want to limit your perusing to the UGG Australia options. If you’re buying for someone who wants the more traditional benefits of sheepskin boots, you’re going to want to go with quality, and for that you need Koolaburra or the UGG Ultras.

Cheaper sheepskin boots are cheaper for a couple reasons. The first is usually that there aren’t any actual sheep products involved. The fleece is almost always synthetic, and the outside of the boot is either a canvas or cheaper leather substitute. If the person on your list is environmentally conscious or a fledgling member of PETA, go for the cheap version. Your animal lover will be heartbroken to realize that her UGGs or Koolaburra’s are in such short supply because the fleece is never separated from the animal’s skin in traditional Australian construction (twin-faced sheepskin, to use technical terms), and there are only so many sheep in the world. In the case of UGG classics they actually require the use of two different animal’s skins, but I’ll get into that a bit further on. Mind you, these companies aren’t out there slaughtering sheep left and right for fashion. They work in close partnership with the meat industry, ultimately causing less waste by utilizing the entire animal rather than just its food source offerings. Maybe that makes you feel better, maybe it doesn’t.

To be really well rounded (since I know the direction this blog is headed), I should give you information about the lower end boots and which brands make them. Unfortunately for my journalistic diversity, I don’t like to write about things I don’t have personal experience with and we only carry UGG Australia and Koolaburra here at Takken’s. I will say that prior to working here I owned a pair of Emu brand boots ($39 when I bought them). They gave me the look I wanted, and they seemed very comfortable. Never having worn an UGG or Koolaburra, I was not disappointed in the product I received. At least not until the 3rd or 4th wear when I realized they didn’t fit anymore because all the fluffy parts squished down and the boot started rattling back and forth on my foot. That, however, is a problem of all sheepskin boots regardless of price. My Emu’s did it. My UGG’s did it. My Koolaburra’s did it. If you want them to last, buy them small. One size down is a good idea, two isn’t out of the question if you want to be wearing them for a long time. (For children who’s feet are still growing, buy them true to size. They’ll stretch with their feet as they grow.)

I’ve got a lot more to get into before I’m done on the sheepskin topic, but I can already imagine your eyes glazing over at the sheer length of this blog. I’m going to cut this off here, and pick it back up a little later on. In the next installment, I’ll go over the differences between UGG Australia and Koolaburra.

Shuru Out.