Wellington boots are almost 200 years old. To deal with changing fashions at the time, where short breeches were becoming long trousers, the Duke of Wellington ordered a new style of boot that was both hard-wearing and comfortable to be made. He inadvertently created a new market.
The birth of wellington boots - also known as wellies or gumboots - brought with them the creation of a new sport. 'Welly wanging' is a light-hearted sport in the UK where contestants grab a rubber boot, wind up, and throw it as far as they can. The winner is the one who throws the gumboot the furthest. While originating in the UK, welly wanging has reached out as far as Finland, with wangers chucking gumboots during an annual championship in the latter.
Finland is not the only country to have fallen victim to the gumboot's charms, however. Taihape, in New Zealand, has an original claim to fame - it is known as the "Gumboot Capital of the World". The small, rural town also hosts a yearly wanging contest on the first Tuesday after Easter - known as Gumboot Day.
Originally a Scotland-based company with a British client base, Hunter is now globally popularised thanks to the natural growth that allows it now to sell its products worldwide. Offering a range of different designs, Hunter wellies are well-established in their field and the company even supplies waterproof footwear to the Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Hunter wellington boots come in a variety of styles - though none yet created especially for the best wang possible. They even have a festival boots range, which come in extra tall sizes or lace-up styles with extra grip to combat the frequent mudslides that plague several of the summer's musical highlights. For festivals, it can be especially handy to avoid getting covered in mud - though some will argue that's all part of the experience - by wearing some specialised footwear. Wellingtons can provide this protection and are branching further into the world of fashion design. It's not just kiddies' wellies that look like frogs and ladybirds anymore.
There are plenty of different types of wellington boots out there, from Hunter to La Chameau, and it's important to carefully select the style you'd prefer before purchase. Wellingtons are hard-wearing and built to endure, so if you end up with a pair you don't like and can't return it could be a good few years before you can justifiably buy a new pair.
However, some suppliers of hunter wellies offer free returns and exchange, meaning you can get the right size and style for you.
Naturally, however, the right size and style are purely facets that relate as much to how far you can throw the things as they do to you wearing them!
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