December 29, 2011

Ugg or Yuck?

I recently bought myself a pair of these super-cute, on-the-nose trendy "Ugg"-like brown boots with an amazingly soft sheepskin lining.  They were on a ridiculously-good discount, but that's beside the point.  These boots, just like the uber-popular Ugg boots that first revolutionized cold weather fashion back when I was in college in Ohio, (and are even more popular here in the Pacific Northwest, if that's even possible), could likely be the cause of millions of young ladies' foot and even back painThis article here from ThirdAge.com explains that these types of extremely popular boots (and insanely expensive; I mean come on peeps, do Uggs do the walking for you, or do you still have to actually step forward when walking, putting one foot in front of the other?  I thought so.  So then, why are you willing to spend so much of your hard-earned money on them?)  Derailed.  Sorry.  Back to this interesting article. 
These types of boots offer no arch support for your beautiful little footsies.  None.  You are in effect, walking on a totally flat surface with no support, which may be perfectly fine if you're simply wearing them around the house, or to & from the mailbox, but that's not typically the case, now is it?  Usually, girls wear these all day at school, or carousing around the mall for hours on end.  This is not an ideal situation for your poor feet.  Need more proof?

Here's an experiment.  Take a shoe off (if you're wearing one), and look at the bottom of your bare foot. You see that area stretching from the ball of your foot to your heel?  That's your arch.  And look closer.  Unless you are severely, abnormally flat-footed, you'll see that your arch is in fact a graceful curved slope.  This means that you want to wear shoes whose shape mimics that of your feet.  Shoes with a slight slope, or what us "experts" like to call arch support.  Arch support in your shoes is a very, very good thing.  If you don't have it, you're feet can ache, your arches can fall (which hurts; trust me I know from experience from horrible Junior High Homecoming shoes), and can cause your hips and back to hurt as well from the inadequate support. 
That is the other reason why I had refused the tantalizing call of boots like these for so long:  because I've heard for years about how they could wreak havoc on your feet.  And since I'm a sometimes, when-it's-not-too-cold-or-hot-or-wet-outside runner, I know that protecting my feet from injury is paramount. 
So, I suppose the bottom line is this:  you can love these boots, but do not wear them too often, or you may regret it.  And not just because you may realize how ridiculous you look wearing these with a pair of shorts.  Uggs and shorts do not mix, people, please hear me:  there is no logical reason to wear an outfit consisting of Uggs and shorts.  It needs to be one or the other.  Either it's too hot outside for Uggs and you should wear shorts with sandals, or it's too cold for shorts and you should wear pants with those Uggs.  *Sigh*


*image credits:  www.kaboodle.com, www.drcomfort.com


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