Wellies for Everyone!

 

 

Before I moved to England in 2005, I had no idea what a wellie was. In fact, I hadn't owned a pair of rainboots since I was a little kid. And with them I wore a red, plastic-coated rain hat that came down to my chin with a transparent 'window' over my face so I didn't walk into walls, and the lyrics to Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head were printed all over it. Awesome, I know. One day the hat's plastic layer cracked from wear and I was devastated. You can see why.

Seven years on and an ocean away, I now own two pairs of Wellingtons. Unfortunately, I can't wear either of them! Well, one I can't and the other I just don't want to. The unwearables have become that way thanks to a very narrow upper which does not accommodate my left calf, which is disproportionately larger than the other thanks to the extra work it had to do when I had a torn meniscus in my right knee. Apparently it never returns to normal! So me and Hercules are stuck with each other. The undesirables are super cute if not too twee for me now, but that's not the problem. I have since learned that the most unflattering boot length - for any kind of boot - hits you mid-shin and has the power to make even Elle McPherson look stumpy. I've already got one calf on steroids, I can't take chances on looking any weirder.

Anyway, thanks to English music festivals being the most popular events on earth and muddy wandering a guaranteed part of the line-up, wellies have become a fashion staple for wet days. And as a result, the selection available to us has become very, very good. My daughter has a pair of Joules wellies and they are adorable, and unlike some others we've had,  these haven't split. Staying intact certainly helps with the waterproof-ness of the boot! And I've noticed that their range of women's wellies are really great - I especially love the contrasting stripe down the back (see the header photo of my favourites) which is repeated in the lining - details!

So I was thinking about getting a pair that I can - and want - to wear, when I saw Joules' new Wellibobs (see them in glossy navy below, complete with the stripey backs). At first I turned my head sideways and squinted at them, but within a few minutes I'd decided they may be the answer to my rainy day frustrations: no stick of butter required for squeezing in one giant calf because they are ankle-length - ANYBODY can wear these! And no worries about having to wear leggings, tights or skinny jeans - anything will either fit over or slip in. 

(And I can't help but mention how much I love how the Union Jack is embraced here - people will actually wear the British flag! Canadians are very proud to be who we are and we love our country, but if you ever saw someone back home in boots with the maple leaf emblazoned on the front, a Canadian version of the Union Jack wellies below, you would think that someone had stolen their shoes in front of a souvenir shop in Niagara Falls and they had no other option than to walk out in these. It's pretty neat.)