I’m really interested in branding. The way customers perceive brands fascinates me – why do we think Nike sportswear is better than, say, Reebok? Is it price? Design? Do we run faster in Nike trainers? Or is it really just brand perception? It’s a great topic to explore.
It’s rare that a brand can change the way they’re perceived by the public. We’re like elephants (in that we never forget, not that we’re huge, grey and wrinkly) – when we think we’ve got a brand all worked out, we’re reluctant to accept any new direction that brand might try take. Burberry is a great example – their classic check was adopted by less-than-desirable types and the brand’s image instantly took a nosedive. And even though things have improved and chavs have moved on, I still can’t see Burberry check (real or faux) without thinking of baseball caps and hoodies.
Some brands manage it, however. Hunter started out making wellington boots for soldiers at war – they made over 1 million boots during World War I and were called up for service again during World War II. The brand supply wellies to the Royal Family and were granted a Royal Warrant from the Queen in 1986. Impressive, yes. But not particularly cool.
But, the Hunter brand story is a lesson in the power of celebrity. Kate Moss wore a pair of Hunter wellies at Glastonbury in 2007 and since then, they’ve been a must-have for stylish field-dwellers everywhere. The brand is now synonymous with countryside couture and the original wellies are in huge demand. The brand have cleverly capitalised on this, recruiting figures from popular culture (including Liberty London Girl) to further boost their image as a cutting edge brand with a traditional product.
Of course, I’ve been desperate for a pair for months. I’ve been thwarted on many an occasion – the pair I found at a car boot sale were a size too small, and despite hitting the Brand Alley sale (which is on ’til next week, so be quick!) early I missed out on an original pair in my size. So when Lucy and Chloe tweeted about Hunter stock in TK Maxx I raced down to my local store to see if it’d be third time lucky. And it was!
Hunter wellies via TK Maxx, Primark sequinned jacket and sheer top, Topshop jeans, H&M rings
I chose a pair of Originals in black and paid £39.99 for them, which is a great saving on the £69.99 RRP. I’ll be selling my car boot pair (which were a fiver… if ONLY I could cut my toes off) to make back some of the cost. I realise £40 is rather a lot for a pair of wellies, but hey. I’m a sucker for a good brand story.
What do you think of Hunter wellies – are they a legitimate addition to the stylish woman’s wardrobe or really just rubber boots for wading through mud? Do you pay much (any) attention to brands when it comes to shopping?
I do like them, I have some and I think they’re good quality but they remind me of farms. I grew up on a farm and the side barn was filled with black Hunters with a red band around the top to pop on when going out to feed the livestock or get the animals in of a night.
I can’t shake it.
I love them, I’v had my own pair for a couple of years and they last really well compared to normal cheapo wellies! x
I like them but I think only countryfolk should wear them.
I do rather laugh at townies who wear them. It’s like the 80s when yuppies in London wore Barbour jackets. If you don’t hunt, shoot fish or muck out then you’re not really ‘entitled’ to wear them. Townies simply don’t have the credibility.
You know, like fat slobs in Man U kit. It’s anachronistic.
I got a pair for my birthday last year and love them! Got so many compliments about them at isle of wight the other week too!
My wellies are a pair i got from next for £10, they’re so uncomfortable but i only wear wellies when it’s snowing. i don’t go out in the mud to justify the cost of a good quality pair (even though i live in the yorkshire country side). I really do need to take more walks! x
I love the design. I got a pair of Hunter Lowthers which are basically a budget version of the classic Hunter design made by the same company. They only come in traditional green or dark blue but I wanted dark blue anyway. To top it off they were only £25, less than half the price of original Hunters! 🙂
Yay! I told you they had some – just glad they had some in your size. Good work missy. I have the same pair and wear them far too often x
I love Hunter wellies but I can’t wear the long ones as they are too tight on my calves! I have short lace up ones and I adore them. It was a bit of a drama buying them (the pair I originally wanted were out of stock and the shop didn’t tell me!) anyway, they are so so comfy that I think the price is absolutely worth it. I almost want it to snow badly this winter so I can wear them, but only almost because that was a nightmare really, wasn’t it, haha x
I like them but I don’t really feel the need for a pair of them in my life. I’ve got decent waterproof walking boots that do me nicely for camping, walking, coping with snow etc so wellies don’t really ever make it to my want list.
Plus there’s the ever present issue of money – I won’t pay £40 for something I’ll hardly ever wear!
I’m not British, I live in The Netherlands and I’ve watched this “trend” grow a bit…seeing wellies showing up more frequently in online shops and on blogs. It’s all slightly…amusing to me really. No one wears them here just for the hell of it. I don’t like them, they’re for on the farm. But what’s worse than the black wellies I think…are the wellies in all sorts of colours/designs…those should seriously only been seen on the feet of small children :S
I don’t think £40 is too much for wellies – how pairs of wellies are you going to need to buy in your life? They’ll last you forever! 🙂
I really like the Hunter wellies but unfortunately I fell in love with some baby pink Joules ones last year….they have chickens on….I couldn’t resist! x
I have to be honest, I can’t stand the whole brand thing, and I find Hunter a particularly ridiculous example. No one was interested until Kate Moss wore them – why are we all so quick to copy? Don’t we have our own ideas about style? To me, Hunter wellies are just wellies – the only thing that’s ‘special’ about them, aside from the fact that Kate Moss wore them, and the only reason hordes of people pay an enormous amount of money for them is that small white rectangle which lots of people (and granted, not everyone) think says something awesome about them. Hard as I try, I can’t think of it as anything other than thinly veiled snobbery.
Good issue to bring up – it’s always interesting to hear views on these things!
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Chloe said…
Yay thet still had some. fabulous! As you know i’m an avid lover of the hunter welly – i’m not going to lie it probably is down to the branding, but I also think that they are fantastic quality so well worth the money, other wellies i’ve had in the past just kept braking but my hunters have been so sturdy. I don’t know, maybe it’s my perception because of the branding but to me they were well worth the money, I actually wear them more than I imagined, they’re ever so practical.
C x
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I really like them actually, although I wouldn’t buy them myself at the moment as I can’t justify spending money on wellies when I don’t plan on going to any festivals or ploughing through fields any time soon….
They really suit you 🙂
Sirens and Bells xx
Sadly, I bought a pair of hunters once but I think they were designed for a doll as I couldn’t get my legs in and I’m not even THAT fat. 🙁
Hmm I’m not bothered about hunter wellies really, I have some red wellies from Joules which I love and they are half the price of the hunter wellies.
aah, I adore my Hunter wellies, thay are sooo comfortable! I have a fuschia pair & shorter lace up pair of aubergine ones (pink & purple, I reckon!). I wear them with outfits & for walking the dogs & festivals of course!
I love my hunters and they’re so comfy! As you’ll find out if we get copious amounts of snow again this winter and you have to walk any distance in them.
I love going to TK Maxx for shoes. And Hunter’s are definitely an iconic welly, though, I have a WedgeWelly myself.
In Romania they still are, very much considered peasant attire. Of course trends are being blindly followed by some for the sake of brand and trend here too, but I still can not help smiling at the reaction of older people when a young girl struts by, proudly, in tiny skirts or painted on jeans and wellies. They are precious!
As far as brand shopping is concerned (especially western brands), I think that in former communist countries, it is even more present, because we didn’t have access to them and they somehow, in the back of our mind, represent our freedom of choice and our need to belong to the free world.
wow you got an absolute bargain there! jealous xxx
They are a bargain-well done you on that! I am definitely going to be treating myself to some this winter! Love the sequin jacket from primark too-will be scouting out for this next time I’m in! X
Forgot to comment last night! I do like them but to me, they’re just wellington boots!
I can’t believe people have taken to wearing them on a night out, yes, apparently this happens.
I was almost sick in my mouth when I discovered that there is a Jimmy Choo version of them, how utterly pretentious.
I have a pair of Hunter wellies which I got for £17 and they are so useful as I live in the ‘countryside’ and especially in winter they are invaluable! I don’t think I could pay that much for them though 🙂
Maria xxx
Ha, I know, it’s crazy, isn’t it? We’re such slaves to brands. Those boots ARE lovely, though… great find! I may have to have a look myself. I mean, I am going Bestival… x
You’re spot on when you talk about branding, it’s so clever! Did you watch that programme on the BBC Superbrands? It’s crazy how we get sucked into it!
Cool post, and I like your Hunters 🙂
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I dunno, I quite like the Queen! I’m afraid I just dont do wellies, but if I did yeah I’d probably choose Hunters, being they’re a respectable brand so you know you’re getting quality – but I’d go to TK Maxx too! 🙂
Loving the wellies! Brands aren’t that important to me, i’d rather buy lots of lovely bits in the charity shop than splash out. Although saying that I loved the Vivienne Westwood black bow wellies (from last year I think it was…) but at £75 I’d be scared to get them wet!
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I just ordered my first pair of Hunter wellies – can’t wait for them to arrive!! Went for the short version – so hope I like them as much 🙂
hi, i just found your blog (i’m new to the whole blogging thing) and i love it!
i also love hunter wellies, but i only wear them in winter. i’d probably be just as happy in regular black wellies, so i guess i got them because i like the brand… this is a very interesting post 🙂
Amazing sequin jacket!
I think branding is such an interesting subject I did my dissertation on it. Unsurprisingly I concluded that branding is all about associating yourself with certain social groups and and ideologies. I’m sure no one would be surprised to learn that many high street brands (in clothing, food, drink, pretty much anything) are made by the same manufacturers and yet some are considered better (or worse) because of a logo and their associations. Its crazy how much we let advertising, sponsorship and essentially social opinions affect our thinking. It’s also crazy how much they’re worth. The coca cola brand alone is worth almost $70 billion, insane for something that essentially doesn’t exist!
Yet I’m still a sucker for the brands that I think represent me. While Hunter wellies aren’t my kind of thing, I just can’t resist Fred Perry’s little laurel wreath and think nothing of paying their often crazy prices.
P.S. I really love the way you write your blog. It’s probably one of the few I actually READ regularly.
oh i love this sequinned jacket jen, it’s so pretty.
I was lucky to win a red pair. I wore them all through the snow last winter and my feet were warm and dry the whole time 🙂
I definitely want a pair, there seems to be a certain amount of kudos having the little logo on the front. Though they’re a bit of a stretch for me, I will start looking for deals online and definitely in TK Maxx. Most of the time I’m not bothered about brands but I do stay loyal to a few, such as Apple for laptops and Converse for seriously casual shoes.
I saw these in TK Maxx the other day! Definitely a reasonable price for Hunters but I can’t justify spending £40 on anything at the mo let alone wellies..! Found some amazing brown wellies in a junk shop in Scotland for £2.50 so that’s filled the void a bit!
I really like how you styled them, perfect festival attire! I’m not so fussed about branding – I can see the allure of Hunters, but I also like wearing ridiculously-patterned wellies, so I’ve gone for £12.99 Mountain Warehouse ones with birds on them…! My last cheapo pair had sunflowers on them and lasted about five years (until a certain little sister put a hole in them!) so I’m not sure if price = quality where wellies are concerned!
*Disclaimer*
I have giant calves, so this may be biased as tall Hunters don’t fit me!
I think there’s a bit of reverse snobbery starting to spring up around certain brands. Originally it was ‘if you’re not wearing Burberry/Hunter/Barbour then you’re not one of us’, but now I see people piping up with ‘if you wear Burberry/Hunter/Barbour you’re just following trends’. Well… yes. We’re all constantly presenting an image of ourselves, and wearing brands that we identify with is one of the ways we do that. Wearing granny jumpers from a charity shop is exactly the same thing, you’re identifying with an ideal.
For some reason when I needed to replace my old Puma gym trainers recently I went with… Puma. I see something in Puma that I identify with, which I don’t see in Nike or Reebok. So even though I don’t usually wear brands with visible logos on their clothes, when it comes down to buying something that pretty much has to be branded, I’ve got my loyalties.
I must be one of the only people in the world who doesn’t get sucked in by brand names. To me, I look at whether a product will fulfill the function I need it for, and whether it’s cheaper than the more expensive model which does the same, if so, I buy it! I think I have a very masculine mind though lol
I love them, I’v had my own pair for a couple of years and they last really well compared to normal cheapo wellies! x
Why on earth are all you townies wearing them??!
Dont you all realise how stupid you look??
Thank you for ruining a once respectable british brand. If I was to turn up to my shooting sindicate wearing hunters now ID look like some sort of townie wannabe!
I have a long walk to the station and in the wet weather my Hunters are essential. They are tight to get off and the first time I wore them I attracted quite a lot of interest around my desk as I struggled to remove them. One of my colleagues took some pictures and I could not believe all the facial contortions I was making. I now take them off in the privacy of the ladies room where I can grimace as much as I need without anybody seeing. One tip however is not to wear them with bare feet. I did so once and it took me about ten minutes to remove EACH boot and I was in agony.