Art of the Steal

I enjoy fashion in all its various guises. In my youth, I was interested in keeping up with all the latest trends, swapping style tips with friends and even attempting to start a few fads myself. Most of them never caught on but I like to think I can take some of the credit for one or two crazes that became popular at my high school. I’d be too embarrassed to mention what they were now that my tastes have matured, but you get the picture – I’m pretty interested in fashion and probably spend more of my time and money than the average punter.

So, having established my credentials in the fashion stakes, and therefore hopefully having reassured you that I’m not against fashion in general, I’d like to talk about something I’ve been meaning to get off my chest for a while. And that’s dog fashion…

Dog Fashion

I usually take the attitude that people should live and let live. But when it comes to dressing your dog up in clothes that make them look human, and worse still, making them wear stupid accessories that cause discomfort and distress to the dogs, I find myself getting quite angry.

The decadence of western society today has gotten completely out of control, check out the official pet fashion week website if you’re in any doubt. We feel the need to dress our animals up as if they were our spoiled little children. We buy dog collars encrusted with jewels that costs the equivalent of several months wages for a third world worker. It’s vulgar and I want no part of it.

Fair enough if your dog’s natural coat of fur is too thin for the harsh winters where you live, or if it has a medical condition that demands extra warmth or protection from the sun’s UV rays. But dressing a dog up purely for your own amusement is just plain wrong.

Dog Fashion Show

I had the misfortune of attending a fashion show recently where, unbeknownst to me, there was a category for dogs. The outfits were pretty outlandish to say the least and I had to leave the room at one point because some of the dogs were clearly distressed. If it hadn’t been for the presence of a vet, who had been hired to keep an eye on the animal welfare side of things and who stepped in to rescue the dogs in question from their sartorial torture, I would have been on the phone to the authorities.

Small Dog Fashion

One area of fashion that seems to be getting more and more popular these days is the “accessory dog”, popularised by wives and girlfriends of footballers and the rich and famous who jump on every bandwagon going. These poor pooches (usually something like a Chihuahua) are dressed up in the most sickening outfits, stuffed into a handbag and then paraded around like a piece of jewellery. It’s no wonder that Chihuahuas tend to be so bad tempered.

Fashion Dog Collars

Now, dog collars are just about the only fashion item that I would be comfortable putting on a dog of my own. I mean every dog needs a collar, so if you want to get them a nice looking one then I say go for it. You could even get different collars for different occasions or ones that match with your own outfit. Knock yourself out!

High Fashion Dog Collars

Where things get a little over the top for me – even where collars are concerned – is when the owner loses all sense of proportion and ties a collar round the neck of their dog that would pay for innoculating an entire third world country against every disease known to man. When I see examples like that it makes me so angry that I invariably shout at the television, radio or whatever medium beamed the shameful facts into my stream of consciousness. Come on people, get a grip!

So, to return to the question posed by the title of this article, are high fashion dog collars a step too far? The answer, to which any right thinking individual would attest, is clearly a resounding, “yes”.