Stilettos, Stoli & Scribbles ~ Served With A Twist

Hello friends and Happy Monday! (As far as I’m concerned I’ve already won Monday since I managed to get my coffee back to the office without falling down or any major spillage.)

“Big Deal”, you say? Well, for one thing it was raining – washing away the inch or so of snow we had overnight, so I had an umbrella, was dodging puddles and trying not to slip on any ice disguising itself as slush. For another, it’s “Study Day” here on campus before final exams begin tomorrow and all of the dining halls are giving the students free coffee all week. That meant that there were no large cups to be had, which meant I had to get mine in a small cup. There was no way I was going back to my office with a mere thimble of caffeine, so I improvised.

Now are you impressed? (If you knew my reputation for clumsiness, you would be.)

Oh well, that isn’t what I want to talk about today, but I couldn’t resist that wee bit of hotdogging.  I really just want to show you little Morty in his new winter hoodie:

C’mon, that’s cute and hilarious!

My reaction to Morty got me thinking about what an odd practice it is, that we humans feel the need to “dress up” our pets.  For the most part, these sweaters and coats that we wrestle them into are purely fashion statements that say more about the pet’s owner than they do about the pet. They certainly didn’t pick out their own outfits. If they did, they might not balk so much at wearing them. No, pet fashion is for our amusement. For proof, if any is needed, one need only turn to the hundreds of Pinterest boards dedicated to “Sweaters with dogs in them”, and every permutation of that that one could think of.

I suspect that some of the people who frequent these boards are the same people we see pushing tiny dogs or cats in baby strollers through the park or even the shopping mall.

I don’t get it. Nope, I just don’t get it.

Though there are now strollers designed specifically for pets, they merely let the humans involved feel better about continuing a practice that undoubtedly started in childhood with that first tea-party with dolls and the family cat in a tutu.

It’s a slippery slope. My guess is, this cat has not seen himself in a mirror or he’d have nixed the wig.

Granted, there are some animals, particularly dogs, that actually need an extra layer of protection against the elements, like those Greyhounds without an ounce of fat on them.

Little Morty falls squarely in that category.  He lives in the Northeast and it gets far too cold for a five pound dog to be out without a coat (or boots either. I’ll have to get a picture of him in his new Wellies).

For the most part though, and I say this after spending more time than I care to admit on “research”, I think people are addicted to the “cute”.  Dogs, cats (when you can manage it without being torn to shreds) and even rabbits, in sweaters are just ridiculously cute.

Big dogs:

Small dogs:

Bored dogs who seem to be asking “Whyyy?”:

Pissed dogs (and cats) who look like they are already plotting revenge:

Here’s a bunny:

All cute. They make me smile, some even earn an outright laugh. And who couldn’t use a little more of that in their lives?

I saved the best for last. They aren’t in sweaters, but they are dressed up to have their picture taken and they certainly are ridiculously cute:

Stella in her Halloween hat

Fergus in his Christmas bow tie

Have a great week everyone! Twelve days until Hannukah and thirteen days til Christmas!