Fashion four paws

March 2016

I don’t know if it is because we have empty nest syndrome or because we have read all the latest literature on how pets help us live life better and longer, but I have noticed that many of my colleagues and friends now have pets. Overall I think this is great and if Bob and I didn’t want to travel so often, and the fact that we may disagree on the type of pet...cat (me) dog (Bob) we probably would consider another foray into pet parenthood. It has been some time since our own Sparky passed and we decided that we wouldn’t look for a replacement. Not that anyone could replace our high personality, high maintenance, high demand cat. (They say that the pet takes on the personality of the owner... I am going to let you think about that for a bit).

What I really have noticed, more than ever, is the amount of clothing available for pets and the extensive designs. Whether looking for a coat with fur, boots, hat, sweater, dress (evening or cocktail), bathing suit (really?), sunglasses or matching hat, it seems everyone has adopted this new shopping activity. Now at this point I should admit that I have my own dog nephew fashion plate Ricky that I have purchased an item or two for. I mean how can one resist the mini clothes that I would love to own? Like the Shetland wool coat, the designer sweater or the yellow slicker for those rainy days. The Halloween costumes or that special Christmas outfit are all adorable and seemingly affordable. Although if one were to do a count on cost per metre of fabric, we would all be in shock.

Little clothes for pets are in and just like when we little girls used to play dress up and yes sometimes subjected the dog to the latest fashion idea, we are portraying our personality through our pets in yet another affirming way. They do say that pets begin to look like their owners or is it that they always did and that is why we are attracted to them? None the less I can honestly say I think the mini clothes are my replacement to buying Barbie outfits since our daughter is all grown up and never really liked Barbie.

Of course I never played dress up with our pets when we were kids because our two cats would have won this fight over me. To this day I don’t know how my sister coerced our cats into sitting there for her while she trimmed their whiskers. I think they figured that this was the better fate. (A haircut being the alternative).

This obsession with pet clothing is, I believe, an extension of our need to be more creative, perhaps daring those of us who live in an analytical world most of the time, to use colour and design as a respite from the day to day. For me that means that once in a while, when I find something particularly cute or unique that I think Ricky (or really my sister) would like, I pick it up and deliver it with a flourish. Usually he takes one look at it, rolls his eyes and walks away with his head down. I am not certain if this is a response to the clothing selection or complete disappointment in the fact that his auntie Sue should know better.

Have a wonderful spring everyone...wearing matching slickers of course!

Sue Prodaniuk is a marketing, advertising and communications consultant. She can be reached at sprodaniuk@shaw.ca.

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