Ugg boots guide to winter fashion

The moral for the savvy shopper? A few appropriately outstanding pieces will add the necessary pop to your otherwise unchanged wardrobe.

Julia Seidl, creative director of Stylehog.com, “your online guide to runway fashion on a budget,” suggests that investing in a few key pieces can sufficiently update nearly any wardrobe.

“Thanks to Michelle Obama, the structured and tailored shift dress has quickly replaced the power suit as the go-to piece’ for working women everywhere,” Seidl wrote in an email.

And when it comes to footwear, Seidl says, there’s only one choice.

“The bootie (the hybrid between shoes and boots) has become the hottest footwear of the season. Whether worn with pants for the day or tights and a skirt for a night out, the bootie is the only shoe/boot you need this season,” Seidl wrote.

It’s tough to talk boots without uttering the dreaded three-letter word that is still making little dollar signs pop up in eyes of shoe salesmen everywhere: UGG.

“The UGGboots have continued to be popular,” said Bob Scanlon of Oneonta’s Sport Tech. “They keep coming back for them.”

Seidl, among others, would just as soon this wasn’t the case. “UGGs are like an ex-boyfriend we seem to bump into everywhere we go,” she wrote. “We would have thought this trend would have disappeared into the fashion abyss a long time ago. But judging by what we see on the street, this trend is as popular as ever.”

Before picking up your own pair, however, consider the possible backlash. There is an Anti-UGG Boots League on Facebook, an anti-UGG petition circulating on the Internet, anti-UGG T-shirts and even an anti-UGG public service announcement on YouTube (created “as a mock campaign against the UGG boot trend within our pop culture”).

Accessories offer an affordable means of updating your look, and this season’s picks are anything but mild. The usual standards of purses and jewelry have been joined by brooches, gloves and even hats (yes, ladies: hats) as the season’s smart sartorial choices.

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