subject: The Welly Boot - The Newest Footwear Must-have [print this page] Originally dating back to the early 1800's the 'welly>' has been a fashion no-go area for most of its' life. However, recent designs, together with some prominent celebrities wearing them means the boot is more popular than ever.
In 1815 in the UK, the Duke of Wellington instructed his shoemaker to create a new style of boot. The Wellington boot as we now know it was originally manufactured from leather. However, thanks to the vulcanization process that had just been invented by Charles Goodyear, the first boots manufactured from natural rubber were released in 1852. Charles Goodyear further developed his technique to manufacture car tyres.
For generations, the 'Wellington' or 'Welly Boot' as it is more often known was the chosen footwear for farmers, and very unlikely to be seen adorning the pages of fashion magazines.
This has all changed over the last few years, with welly boots now available in countless colourful and stylish designs and even now with heels.
Dame Shirley Bassey gave a huge boost to sales of welly boots when, in 2007 she performed at the Glastonbury festival in a pair of jewel-encrusted wellingtons.
Ever since,Since then, demand for welly boots has gone through the roof, with more traditional brands like Hunter seeing a substantial increase in turnover over the last few years. Despite going into administration in 2006, sales ever since then have increased dramatically with figures for 2007 being 85% higher than they were the year before.
One of the newest arrivals to the fashion wellies market are WedgeWelly. Their patented wedge is incorporated into a range of stylish-print wellies which have gone down a storm on the festival circuit this year. The profile of the brand also sky-rocketed after they were featured on the "Dragons' Den" programme on BBC TV and also received investment from one of the "Dragons'".
Although a mainly seasonal fashion statement, welly boots look destined to remain popular into the foreseeable future.
