The Qantas lounge gave her a dressing down for her ugg boots. I’m with the airline on this one

September 20, 2026 — 9:30am

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Recently, someone got turfed out of the Qantas lounge in Melbourne. Not for being drunk, obnoxious, for gluttonous plate stacking, food smuggling or overstaying their welcome, but for wearing ugg boots.

Cassidy Gaiter, a singer and theatre performer, said she’d worn the same slippers into five lounges in the past month without a blink from staff. This time, apparently, she didn’t look “business” enough, so someone made a beeline for her at the door.

Cue the outrage cycle. “Make it make sense,” she said. Except it does make sense; it’s just not the sense she wanted it to make. Face it: their house, their rules.

Here’s the thing nobody wants to hear: airport style has been in freefall for years, and the ugg boot bouncer moment isn’t some kooky overreach. It’s one of the last places still enforcing the idea that how you show up in public matters even slightly. And I’m absolutely here for it.

While Cassidy – who seems a nice human – has since deleted her initial lounge banishment beef from TikTok, it got me thinking. Once upon a time,........

© The Age