LOL. That's unfortunate.

So true.

And stop bitching about being cold. You should have worn real pants!

In the Boston suburbs, we were wearing duck boots in the mid-70s well before the Preppy Handbook gave them the seal of approval. The boys wore the ones that went a bit up the leg, the girls wore the slip-on moccasin style. You need them on a daily basis for those Massachusetts winters. They last forever and don't get shabby. Sporto and LL Bean both made high-qualuty, not-too-expensive versions. I think I am only on my 4th pair since '77. I did notice this year that the current Sporto version does not use as thick a rubber as the LL Bean version.

In short, preppy, not trashy.

Don't see them much around Alabama any more but they were the epitome of preppy a few years ago. Still see some guys in them....most women now wear the more stylish Wellies....houndstooth check and white with red dots are very popular...

To clarify, I don't know that I would say that they were a fashion statement, at least for guys. I go back far enough to when preppy wasn't so much a fashion statement as it was simply what people wore -- no real statement intended. L.L. Bean was popular because they made great outdoor clothes.

Now, the girls I knew who had kelly green duck shoes -- that was a fashion statement.


Agree.

As far as the leggings are concerned, there are two differences that girls are not getting from when they were around the first time in the 1980s.

1) They were a lot thicker then, and looser in key areas (i.e. no camel toe).

2) Everyone wore ginormous sweaters to cover up their butts.

Basic rule - if you're going sexy on bottom (leggings, mini skirt, super tight jeans) tone it down on the top (big sweater, blouse, no low cut shirts) and vice versa. Unless you want the vice squad to arrest you. Same with high heels. The fact that a product is being manufactured for women to put in their purse and slip into when their heels start hurting them is just evidence that girls need to stop!!

As far as the duck boots are concerned, wouldn't it depend on when/where you wear them? If I was back home, and it was snowy and slushie and freezing, I would wear them to trek from the dorm to campus, or from the car to the house, etc. But once I stepped foot in a building, they came off, went in a bag or near the door, and out came another pair of shoes. I would think it would be more trashy to have frostbite. Do people really wear these things around inside?

If you're doing errands or walking to class and going in and out, yes, you keep them on, but if you're going to work, dorm/home, visiting/out and you're "in" for a while, you change them.

I will say that there have been holiday/NYE parties with snow on the ground or precipitation falling and I have worn only my party shoes, and hubby has dropped me off right at the door and then parked the car, because sometimes, it's not convenient to bring your slushies or ducks inside a club/bar/restaurant.