17.1.08

It's Welly Weather

I’m seriously thinking of buying a pair of wellies. In the past, the mere idea of insulting my feet with flat, rubber things only marginally better looking than a pair of Crocs (which in case you are not aware, are extremely ugly, but alarmingly ubiquitous, plastic things which millions of people around the world insist on using as shoes) for everyday wear, well would have remained an idea, a bad one. The problem though is the rain. The incessant rain, which is washing the snow away and wetting my feet (and many other parts of me). Being from a country known for its inclement weather, one might think that I might already own a pair. No, never have, even as a child. When I was growing up in Ireland, wellies were for farmers and even they didn’t go shopping in them.

A stroll around my local, largest shopping centre in Scandinavia shows a different picture. This week, women are plodding around, often in packs, each wearing slightly different versions of the same rubber boot – they have laces and come in different colours with different colour laces. They are in fact designer wellies which cost 1000 Nok a pair and are imported from Denmark. And, as wellies go, these boots are stylish. Yes, I did just put the word wellies and stylish in the same sentence, which really is a sign of how far the style ladder I’ve slipped. But really does everyone have to buy them? Where will it end? With every middle-class woman of a certain age sporting Ilse Jacobsen boots like a uniform?


Well I'm not going there as much as I like the boots (well as much I could like any wellington boots). So I’m wondering if I’ll buck the trend and go back to my roots in a way. Maybe I’ll just go for a great big pair of farmers’ wellies to keep my feet dry. Anyone know where I can get them? Preferably in red? with laces?

6 comments:

Jo said...

Check out the horsewear shops or websites ie Dublin horsewear. They have 'quite' stylish boots that are often waterproof and not as chunky as wellies.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the advice Joanne. The problem with buying online from overseas is that that anything over 200 Nok incurs both duty and a customs fee making purchases far more expensive that they should be.
At least the rain has stopped so I think I'm going to pracrastinate once more on the welly purchase :-)
Jo

Anonymous said...

Never have i owned a pair of wellies or even a raincoat.Sure its raining today....but it might not tomorrow

Unknown said...

Gosh if an Irishman in Bergen, supposedly the wettest city in Norway, doesn't own wellies, maybe I'll have to resist too :)

The housewife said...

That duty and customs fee is a killer. I ordered jumpers from Dale and books (from Norway) for Christmas and the duty was nearly as much as the purchases! Next time I'll rather fly over and put it in my suitcase!

Unknown said...

Caroline
A killer it surely is. Last year I had to pay duty on my own Christmas cards which I ordered from a Norwegian site but were dispatched from Belgium. The most expensive bits of good cheer I've ever ended up mailing.
Jo