LL Bean Duck Boots Are Making a Comeback!

[Bushman]

http://www.npr.org/2014/12/18/37141...ampaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2044

Interesting article. Apparently, this season, LL Bean's famous duck boots are making a fashionable comeback which has left LL Bean's Brunswick factory in Maine scrambling to keep up with orders!

 

[GregO]

Yep. I just ordered a pair a few weeks ago to replace a pair that I have beat to death over the last decade. The estimated shipping date is April!

Looks like these are the "Uggs" of the season. Good for LL Bean. I've always liked the company...too bad most of their stuff is cut too big in the body for me to wear.

 

[gtdean48]

My niece asked for a pair for Christmas except green bottoms.
I've had Maine Hunting Shoe for years....same for my Converse Chuck Taylors....I am so stylish....

 

[Worf]

Pheh... fashionistas strike again. If they were ordering Sorel's with felt in-soles out of Canada then I'd have a bit more respect for em. Puhlease....

Worf

 

[tropicalbob]

Absolutely the ugliest shoes in the world. If you want to keep your feet dry, there are plenty of options. For some reason I've always found them irritating, like "Earth" shoes, which became popular at around the same time in the 70's. To each his own, but quack, quack.

 

[nick123]

I like them. Not kidding.

 

[holdencain]

cold and uncomfortable. and both my teenage girls asked santa for them!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Worf]

Went to lunch today and followed some dork into the place wearing "blue on blue" duck boots.... Spare me Jesus....

Worf

 

[frussell]

I've had a taller pair for years that I use on horseback when it's raining heavily. I need the ankle lace-up support for an old injury, and big galoshes don't work for me. I started using them when a pair of Justin ropers turned into melted cheese after a heavy rain, and I could actually turn them 360 degrees on my foot. Worf, I had a pair of the Sorels, never lived anywhere cold enough to use the felt inserts, gave them to a buddy that moved to Maine.

 

[Renault]

Hoffmann's for my next trip into the elk country.

 

[pawineguy]

I've had a tall, lined pair for maybe 15 years that are used exclusively for snow shoveling. Always keep me warm and dry.

 

[kojax]

i am going to ll bean freeport maine to get my boots

 

[pawineguy]

i am going to ll bean freeport maine to get my boots

I have to admit that's a very fun store to visit!

 

[kojax]

i live about one hour from the store i go time to time

 

[devilish]

They have been a thing for the 'Kinfolk' type blogger girl for about 2 years now already. This article is late to the party. Now the Sorority Set has found them, the end is nigh. LL Bean will get a season, maybe two and then just like Uggs they will pass back into the realms of obscurity. Only to be worn by those that are terminally behind the times or god forbid, people who might actually need a pair.

 

[Big Man]

I've been wearing the LL Bean duck boots and shoes since the '70s. All my children had them (the boys still wear them) since they were little. They last so well, that my grandchildren are wearing the same shoes their parents had when they were little. They would grow out of them before they could wear them out. At this rate, they should be good for another generation or two.

I always wore my pants tucked in my wool socks when out and about in the woods. Now that I read this is presently a "fashion statement" I guess I'll have to change. I'd hate for anyone to think I was some kind of fashionista. [huh]

 

[nick123]

They're a garment that will outlive the trends of today. Like the current hype of Perfectos in 2013-14. A passing fancy to many, but not to those who like them other than as a fashion accessory.

 

[frussell]

Some time in the early 80s, everyone was reading the "Preppie Handbook," which was filled with cutesy illustrations on how to look like you lived in the Kennedy compound. Lots of folks around Houston and Dallas took it seriously, and I remember seeing tons of high-school and college-aged kids wearing them, with shorts, with no socks, and in sunny dry weather. This is not the first time these utilitarian shoes have been trending. I remember enjoying the trend, since I already had a pair, and they were indestructible, so I liked to wear them even when it wasn't raining. Frank.

 

[andy b.]

This must be the only product LL Bean still makes in the U. S., sadly.

And as was pointed out, they were big in the 80s, with a crowd I never hung out with, so I never really got into them. I'll take my White's and Sorel Dominators any day.

 

[g.durand]

I had both Sorels and Beans when I lived in rural Upstate NY from the early '70s to the early '80s. I wore out I-don't-know-how-many pairs of Sorels in that time. Neither one breathes that well and my feet got cold and clammy in them, but at least with the Sorels I had some insulation and it held off the cold for awhile longer. I never understood the desire for Beans given what I considered marginal functionality. Maybe in mild, wet weather they're OK for a short time. Now they're a fashion item, which goes to show that a lot of fashion is style over substance.

I'm with devilish--I'll bet in two years Bean's factory is back to normal production.