**Update – Do NOT wash these boots. A friend of mine had some Ugg Australia boots and when they started looking a bit grubby she put them in the washing machine (as quite a few people have done) and they came up like new. I thought I would do the same with my Whooga boots but now they are ruined:( The dye from the top of the boots bled into the fur and the boots are now different shades of patchy brown – gutted:(!**
Ok, I know this is a bit off topic to my usual blog posts about family travel but I just bought some of these and thought I would post my honest opinion of Whooga sheepskin boots.
Well I have wanted some Ugg boots (ugg australia) for ages and my husband decided he would buy me some for Christmas. I have worn the cheap versions from Next and Primark and while these are a great fashion accessory, I wanted some that would actually keep my feet warm, like proper sheepskin.
Every bonfire night my toes are like ice and I decided I would get these before Christmas particularly for Bonfire night so armed with my ‘paying’ Husband I headed for the Meadowhall Centre in Sheffield. I was so excited to be actually getting some of these sought after boots and knew they were going to be expensive but I actually baulked at the price!! The average price for these boots was £200! The cheapest I could find were in Aspecto for £190 but they were all sold out. Although my husband was willing to fork out the £200 (bless him), I couldn’t justify it and I just couldn’t bring myself to hand over £2oo. Ok, so they were nice and snug but also seemed a lot lighter(in weight) than I imagined they would be and I just didn’t think they were worth £200. So, we shopped around, I wasn’t interested in the ‘Ugg’ label to be honest as there are so many fakes going around people wouldn’t think they were the real macoy anyway. I priced up Emu Boots, Just Sheepskin boots and every other brand of sheepskin boots but even they were well over £100. So I ended up going home empty handed:(
I wasn’t beaten though, I went on the internet and did a google search for reviews on sheepskin boots and that’s where the Whooga brand popped up. There were quite a few reviews for them and they all seemed very positive and the boots seemed to be rivalling the Ugg Australia boot. At around £7o they seemed a steal! The Whooga website claimed they were made from the same Merino Sheepskin that is used by the Ugg Australia boots but they also looked very luxurious and the website was an eye opener to the world of Uggs. Anyhow, I was sold and decided to order a pair. The only problem was I ordered them at the end of October and because they were coming from China, I didn’t get them for Bonfire night:(
You are provided with a tracking number and can follow their progress, after 5 days and not much info on tracking I decided to delve further into google and these boots. I was a little worried as all the reviews seemed to be from fashion blogs who were contacted by a representative of Whooga and asked if they would like to review the boots and were sent a pair for free!! Alarm bells started ringing then, were these really honest reviews??
The boots turned up 3 days later so took aroud 8 days to arrive, which is pretty good considering they came from China. They
turned up in a very pretty brown Whooga box tied with a yellow ribbon but the carrier company were not gentle with the item and the corners of the box were a bit battered:( When I opened the box they looked just like any other quality Ugg boot and when I looked inside the boot, the fur looked thick and luxurious. I tried the boot on but was gutted, they were too big:( Now I had used the size guide on the website and because I was a 41/2 shoe size I bought the size up as advised. These were too big, my foot was slobbing about inside. So my husband emailed them and recieved a prompt reply saying they would process another pair of boots in a size 4 straight away and to send the other boots back and they would refund the return postage. Just over a week later the new size 4 boots arrived. These were a much better fit and a generous size 4 so i would say if you are between sizes definately opt for the size down.
The boots really are gorgeous though and the fur is so soft. My boots arrived just in time for the horrendous cold weather we have at the moment. The only criticism I have with them is that the fur on the footbed is not as thick as it is on the rest of the boot and it wasn’t as cushioned as I had hoped so I purchased a pair of sheepskin insoles from ebay for £4 and they work a treat!! I put some spray waterproof on the boots and they have been covered in snow and still look fantastic and more importantly my toes are as warm as toast!!
I would definately recommend them, you can get nearly 3 pair of these for the cost of Ugg Australia boots and they are just as good if you buy some insoles:)) I have literally not had them off my feet, I love my Whooga Boots!!! To get a pair yourself visit www.whooga.co.uk
P.S I was not given these boots for free, I was not asked to do a review. This is a personal, unbiased, honest review of Whooga Sheepskin Boots.
