How did this all happen? For years the ugg boot was getting on happily as a very comfy and warm piece of footwear preferred by many antipodeans.  They were worn for many recreational activities to include post surfing and as pseudo slippers, I suppose when it was just that bit to cold for thongs (flip flops to you and me) but were never really classed as de rigueur. Having worn a pair I can attest that they are probably the most comfortable shoes ever, akin to walking on cotton wool, but I would classify them in the same category as secret at-home-apparel together with all-in-one romper suits and fluffy dressing gowns - items that you wear when you want to be super comfortable but are 100% sure that nobody will ever see you in.

Somehow these have become the cutting edge of fashion. Could it have been that episode of Cribs where Rachel Hunter proudly showed her many pairs off or is it due to the Australian invasion of the world that the Australian media would have us believe has happened? Funnily enough I couldn't see Nicole Kidman or Russell Crowe in a pair, but who knows. Anyway, anyone who's anyone has a pair and are wearing them with their long tanned legs and mini skirts etc (a bit of an oxymoron but I suppose you have to keep warm somehow!). This inevitably means that next winter you and I and every other fashion victim on the street will be able to buy knock off versions everywhere.

However here's the rub, ugg boots like velour tracksuits and baggy combats before them, look absolutely fabulous on tanned, toned and shiny celebs but on the ordinary girl on the street looked slightly dubious. There is no doubt that ugg boots look fabulous on Cat Deeley with her mini skirt and St Tropez'd pins but with your baggy sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms one might run the risk of looking like a fashion disaster.

All that being said I have a friend in Sydney trawling the streets to find me the limited baby blue pair but if that search fails I will settle for a traditional sand colour pair. However I'm not quite sure whether mine will ever leave the house. I think I'll be quite happy sitting in front of Sex and the City watching Carrie and her specially commissioned ruby red pair, knowing that I too have a genuine pair, and of course leaving them strategically placed when fashionable friends drop by.

According to rumours 500 pairs of Ugg Boots were imported into the UK last autumn and all sold out at £140stg a pair. If you are going to succumb to this trend, which no doubt will be over before it really begins, look around for those knock offs and if you have the legs, the mini combination will still be very hot this summer. However if like me you are a fashion victim and a sucker for the genuine article shop around online, www.uggaustralia.com is a good place to start. According to Sydneysiders they shouldn't cost you more than AUS$60-100, which is far cheaper than our friends across the Irish sea would have us believe.

Promise me one thing though, the only way to make room for Ugg boots in your wardrobe is to move that Juicy Couture velour on, there's being a fashion victim and then there's just plain being a disaster.