According to news.com.au Australia’s 2010 Miss Universe entrant Jesinta Campbell will be donning high-heeled ugg boots as part of Australia’s (cultural) cringe-inducing national costume at next month’s Miss Universe pageant.
Says Campbell: “I have a little sheepskin shrug, which I think is very Australian – very Outback…We have these gorgeous little high-heeled ugg boots, which I think is a nice little finishing touch. It is something that I am really proud to wear. I feel magnificent in it.“
And while this is ostensibly a fashion post on the sartorial perils of wrapping your feet in a sheepskin rug, I daresay this sparks some wider debate about the way Australians are perceived overseas. I mean, in light of this, this, this, this, this, this and this you’d think the gatekeepers of our national identity would ease up on the backwater bogan vibe it insists on perpetuating. World, we’re not all trapped in the 1980s and completely bereft of attractive footwear, culture or tolerance – that’s the island to our south. Tasmania New Zealand.
