Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Want to Sew Your Dog a Corset?!

Well, you're in luck! I got an e-mail from Simplicity showing their new Steampunk offerings (which are actually pretty amazing), and I became interested in the designers who create these patterns. I stumbled across this old pattern from Arkivestry, a team of historical clothing designers. I think it's pretty adorable at first glance, and I'm seriously considering making my Henry a little cat-sized poet blouse. (Not really.) But look at the illustration:

On the right there? People, that is a DOG CORSET. Now I'm sure it isn't intended that you actually tightlace your doggy into a corset. And yes, it's fastened with Velcro in the front. And you know I support the right of humans to do all sorts of weird things to their own bodies. But a corset? On a poor defenseless pupster? It just seems wrong.

Further proof of dog corsetry (helpful green highlighting is mine):



Dog doublets, dog bonnets, lacy dog blouses. I can get behind all of these things. But I draw the line at the corset. Perhaps because it's a garment that's so fetishized. It's like putting your dog into a girdle costume. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Do you agree? Or do you think it's harmless fun? Let's hear it!

34 comments:

  1. That is just plain wrong and borderline animal torture! I have no problem with hoodies, tops and raincoats because these outfits actually serve a purpose, but a corset? Well for a dog with injured sciatic nerve or recuperating from back injury maybe?

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  2. Aren't you lucky to get the heads up from the pattern company? You have certainly made a trend-setter impression on us and apparently the animal lovers world as well:)

    If I attempted to dress Miss Lucy, a black lab, she would love it. She wears custom bandanas all the time. However, Mr. Augie, a lab mix, all 120 lbs, would likely die of mortification. If he didn't remove my arms in the process, not so funny....

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  3. I have seen some pretty cute and over the top dog costumes that make me laugh. But I do think it's a bit odd when one starts dressing their doggies up in human-style underwear... Does the pattern actually use boning? (I hope not for the dog's sake!) But I don't think there is any real harm or controversy in the pattern--just not my cup of tea! ;) (Then again, I don't own a dog or cat, and my pet rabbit would chew his way through any costume!)

    Maybe I'm showing my youth (or bad taste in tv shows as a kid), but the doublet costume reminds me of that show "Wishbone" back in the mid 90s. ;) lol.

    - Casey

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  4. I know some dogs do need sweaters etc to keep warm, but this is just a bit odd. Although, if the corset is just decorative, I don't see how it's any odder than anything else I've seen pet lovers shove their animals into.

    Take your pooch to the Renaissance Festival ensemble?

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  5. Wait, hold the press: SIMPLICITY HAS STEAMPUNK COSTUMES????

    Its officially a monetized trend now.

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  6. My mom's dog Beni loves the fleece winter coat I made him. And that's understandable since he's a geriatric in people years. Silly dog wants to wear that coat when the temp goes below 70. Which isn't often here in Florida, but there you have it.

    As much as he loves his jacket, he would positively reVOLT if he saw a corset coming his way.

    And I can ONLY imagine what my cat would do to me if I even entertained the thought of putting her (or her boyfriend Joxer) into a corset. I really like my skin NOT to be shredded to ribbons and as poor as my eyesight is, I'd like to keep it.

    This is why cats will eventually take over the world and dogs won't. ;-) Cats wouldn't sit still for this nonsense. And even if they did, they'd be plotting their revenge.

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  7. I'm weighing in with a big fat uncorseted Nooooooooooo!

    I completely understand how some shortcoated breeds benefit from sweaters or coats in the winter, and how some working dogs need booties to protect their paws. Those items are functional and if they can be made cute, well, that's nice too.

    But I've lived with dogs all my life and I've never, ever, understood why people feel a need to dress them up like little people. The dogs seem to hate it and the money would be better spent on toys and treats, or as a donation to a rescue!

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  8. Someone at Simplicity has been watching too much Wishbone...?

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  9. if you look closely at the dog thats modelling on the front of the pattern you can tell its thinking 'i better be getting a large piece of steak for this!'

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  10. Dog corset, just not going there. But the steampunk costumes from Simplicity are fun. What I am more interested in, though, is non-costume ways of wearing steampunk styles or elements - esp. for those of us out of our 20s. It's the same as vintage - Gertie and Casey etc. are young and cute and can totally do vintage without looking kooky - but get past about 35 and it's harder to do, especially if one is not slim or super artsy.

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  11. Personally, I think dressing your pet up in anything is creepy.

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  12. oh my goodness! My cavalier king charles spaniel seems destined for one such outfit, but he would probably chew it to shreds in minutes!!

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  13. I am just not into dressing up the poor dog but my boyfriend loves to put (or try to put) Santa suits on my kitties. They don't like it and have written to their congressman about it.

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  14. I can see dressing short-haired dogs for cold weather, or, say, Hallowe'en, but not on a daily basis. Animals don't like that. I dressed my cat in doll clothes when I was seven and she bit me. The only cat bite I've ever gotten, even in four years as a veterinary assistant. She wasn't a biting kind of cat, either; I totally deserved it.

    I adore my dog but she is not human. Which is not to say that she is less, only that she is different, and she does not need clothes (mine doesn't even need them for warmth). If I put that on her, she'd probably pee on the rug out of spite.

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  15. I don't see anything more wrong about the corset than anything else a person may dress-up their dog with. So long as it isn't restricting the dog or acting as an actual corset, it's probably less restricting for the pup than any other garment put on it, especially anything with sleeves.

    I sort of think that dressing up any dog is kind of ridiculous beyond an extra dog coat if needed (such as in -35 C winters here in the Canadian prairies!), but to each their own, I suppose. :)

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  16. Strangely enough, I can imagine our Lucy (a standard poodle) in one of those...and I'm not a dress-your-dog-up kinda gal. Something about a corset and a poodle cut seem like they would go together, KWIM? (Not that we have her clipped like a poodle, either...)

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  17. I think it's totally harmless. Of course, I'm in middle of working on my service dog's part of my steampunk costume, so I may be a bit biased. Sometimes a standard poodle just needs a set of spats and some doggles.

    Honestly, that looks no more restrictive than the service dog vest my dog wears every day. It may not be every person or pup's cup of tea, but as long as the dog isn't distressed and still has time to be a dog, does it really matter? Not every dog will enjoy dressing up and I think it would be cruel to force it on a dog that doesn't enjoy it or at least not actively dislike it, but dogs are no more identical than people are.

    Now, if people were puting their dogs in boned corsets, that would be a whole 'nother story.

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  18. I doubt it's a real corset. More like a velcro belt. All the same, my dog loves to dress up, and get this. Makeup as well when she was young. I know, no one believes me. But hold out a costume and she trots over and puts her head in! This is the same dog I can't get to do anything she does not feel like. And the makeup? She used to cry at my feet when I did mine unless I fluffed the brush in her face as well, then she shut up. Silly dog.

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  19. It's funny because in many ways a corset seems like a belt to me, and a belt is just a step away from a harness, and harnesses and dogs totally go together. However a corset on a dog seems as wrong to me as stockings would. It's just weird. Remember that poem "Don't Dress Your Cat in an Apron" from Free to Be You and Me?

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  20. Eh, I've seen stranger things. Every single pet I've personally owned, including the lizards, would have committed murder and mayhem if I had attempted to dress them up (I have some vague memories of doll clothes and kittens but even that was a very short-lived phase).

    It all depends on the dog -- and on the corset, as long as it is not boned. I'd feel compelled to point out that Renaissance era people did NOT dress up their animals unless said animal was performing, but.....

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  21. Oh, this is hilarious! I doubt there's anything actually restrictive about the corset, so I think it's harmless. But I don't get the whole dressing your dog thing period, although I have been known to (attempt to) use dog costumes at Halloween.

    Part of me would love to make this for my 81 pound goofball pit bull just for the hilarious video that would ensue as we tried to put it on him and then watched him destroy it...

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  22. I'm allergic to most fluffy creatures, so strictly an outside observer to human-pet relations.... But, IMHO, if a person is comfortable enough with their pet-dressing fetish to actually buy a pattern and sew an outfit for their pet, who am I to quibble or get judgey about whether their fashion sense for their pet is too risque? I mean, from where I sit, it's a bit silly to draw distinctions between anthropomorphites.

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  23. Well, I'm a cat person and that kind of explains everything...
    Personally, I'd draw the line at lacy shirts, though, much more than at what - as others have pointed out - seems just like a velcro belt. Oh, but in that case don't call it a corset, please. I'd draw the line at that, too...
    Well, as I said, I'm a cat person. The closest to dressing up our cats ever got was, I think, wrapping themselves up in ribbon.

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  24. Hilarious, Gertie! Thanks for the comic relief today. And for the record, I am against dog clothes of ALL kinds (Unless you live where it's really, really, cold and your puppers is truly cold without a little sweater.)

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  25. This is just ridiculous!

    My dog already gets crazy when we put a towel on his back to dry him off, I can't imagine how annoyed he would be if I tried to get him into something like that. Same goes with other dog 'clothes'. Unless your dog really needs it, please don't put him through something like that, dogs just aren't made to wear clothes.

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  26. My dog really enjoys wearing clothes. She regularly wears a winter coat, college team tshirt, and one halloween I did make a costume so she could be the big bad wolf dressed in grandma's clothes (and I was red riding hood). She didn't love the hat, but really liked the pajamas.

    I just got her a thundershirt, which is pretty snug, and this is supposed to activate the autonomic nervous system so she has less separation anxiety. She asks to have it put on when she's stressed out.

    The corset is silly, but certainly not cruel.

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  27. Absolutely ridiculous - even if it looks "cute". My crazy doggies wouldn't stand for any of it. (I have a boxer and a lab) But along the corset line, I'm considering making myself one from one of my historical patterns!

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  28. I know some Ren Faire junkies who would probably make those.

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  29. Crazy Dog Lady here. Totally harmless, totally fun. There is no occasion I won't sew my little girl a dress for, and I make no apologies. Besides, if people laugh, they're laughing at me, not my dog, and--you know what?--Honey Badger don't give a $h!t. You better believe this is on my list.

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  30. Casey commented "Does the pattern actually use boning?"
    Now that's funny!
    For the record, I have giggled hysterically every time I've seen that pattern.

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  31. Never!!!

    I can see a sweater or fleece jacket for short haired, or geriatric, dogs in cold winter weather, but a dog is noble and wonderful enough that I can't see taking away its dignity by dressing it in human clothes.

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  32. I love the corset, and I would totally make one for my dog. Obviously it would fasten with velcro & the tie part would be just decoration. How is it different from anything else you put your dog in? In fact, I have some corset-style ribbon that I already intend to make dog collars out of & my pup is going to look AWESOME. I feel all caps very passionate about doggie fashion.

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  33. Hi, You post a so beautiful Dogs toy article. I like your sweet & beautiful service.
    Thanks
    Prem Poonom

    "preston dog collars"

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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