Are wellies back? The Duchess of Cambridge (aka Kate) was spotted wearing a pair of £300 “Vierzonord” Le Chameau boots to watch her husband play in a football match before Christmas. Commentators have pointed out that she used to wear the cheaper Hunter boots and that this switch in loyalties is “typical of a more sophisticated angle to the Duchess’s style”. They also picked up on the fashion faux pas of Prince Harry watching his brother in the same make of boots as his sister-in-law. So can we expect to see the “Kate effect” hit the wellie market?
Where did wellies come from anyway?
In the early 19th century the dapper first Duke of Wellington, anxious to accessorise his novelty full-length trousers with a versatile boot capable of being worn into battle as well as into drawing rooms, commissioned a low-heeled calf boot of soft leather. It caught on, adopted by the gentry, the police and the Armed Forces. After the Second World War, during which they were standard army issue, the ill-fitting “Argyll” black wellington boot became de rigueur for labourers.
For those of us who live in the country, well, wellies have been a part of our wardrobe for years. Guess the rest of humanity is finally catching on. Here is Harry and Kate in the same boot (gasp!):
Here is a closer shot of the wellies in question. Let's see if they start flying off the shelf. In the UK, maybe. In the US where most of Americans live in subdivisions, not so likely.
Well well well for first I am a fashion pioneer! I own a pair of Le Chameaus!! Bought them at my local equestrian shop because I refused to buy a pair of Hunters on principle alone that I didnt' want to look like the million of other women around here on a rainy day (and sometimes not even a rainy day..lol) Mine are olive green and are truly indestructible....they look exactly like they did the day I got them!
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