Long before there were comedians in cars getting coffee, there have been comedians in Uggs going grocery shopping. Which is to say, Adam Sandler has been wearing his beat-up chocolate-brown classic mini Ugg boots to run errands for over a decade now, and he has since inspired a whole new generation of funnymen—Jonah Hill, Pete Davidson—to succumb to their sheepskin-lined comfort.
Davidson, in particular, has been on an Uggs tear lately; as his stylist Britt Theodora told GQ, he’s even getting custom pairs made because “they don’t make fun colors in men’s sizing.” And in his recent appearance on Complex’s Sneaker Shopping, Pete named the Sandman as his personal Uggs influencer.
“I’m a big Sandler fan,” he says on the show. “I think Sandler is like 10 years ahead of everyone on fashion, always. And he wore Uggs a lot in the early 2000s.” But the guidance Sandler provides is more than purely sartorial. It’s spiritual.
According to Pete, there is “some sort of, ‘Oh, you don’t give a fuck’” attitude that comes with wearing Uggs. “It’s very powerful. … You go grocery shopping, or you go to the movies, or you go out of your house in Uggs? Like, that’s cool man. I fuck with you.”
In the video, Pete even goes on to do a little trend forecasting, saying that he thinks Uggs are “already back”—and that the custom Juicy Couture velour tracksuits he’s also been wearing recently are next. (He also gives some context on his pearly orthopedic Velcro steppers from Bupkis: “The reason I know about those shoes is because when you go to rehab they don’t give you shoes with laces, so I had to get a fly shoe for rehab…I can’t recommend those shoes enough. They’re, like, $14.”) But he credits his current obsession with Y2K-coded loungewear to another early-aughts staple: The Sopranos.
“That whole Sopranos era, except for the [footwear]—those sandals in the early 2000s will never be okay ever again,” he says. “But the Juicy sweatsuits, I think, should make a major comeback.” As one wise early-2000s girlie once put it: “I saw Regina George wearing army pants and flip flops, so I bought army pants and flip flops.” Pete Davidson, more or less, saw Adam Sandler and Paulie Walnuts wearing Uggs and velour tracksuits, so he bought Uggs and velour tracksuits.
In related “Pete Davidson wearing a custom velour tracksuit” news, he sported a bright blue Polite Worldwide kit to the New York premiere of Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts last night. (The zip-up jacket featured an airbrushed Autobot logo.) He did not pair the look with Uggs—he went for some Puma trainers instead—but the proverbial night is still young.
