Dog clothes are all the rage these days as we see young starlets like Jessica, Britney, Paris and Nicole carrying their well dressed little pups on their arms like the latest Hermes bag. Every city center has a doggy boutique either on the main street or on a side street within easy walking access. I started a little dog clothing business a few years ago and discovered the market was very competitive. Every designer and celebrity, it seems, has their own dog clothes line.
Target has two lines of dog clothes in their stores — both Isaac Mizrahi and Rachel Ashwell have dog clothes lines sold exclusively at Target. Yes, you can get upscale New York style from Mizrahi for your upscale pooch, or Malibu-cum-Shabby Chic faded denim Rachel Ashwell dresses for your spoiled little girl. It’s no wonder little girls ask for puppies for Christmas. Not so long ago, parents would stand in line for the much coveted Cabbage Patch doll, now they have to hide a warm little puppy with the neighbors just so their little girl gets her surprise on Christmas morning. And, they can’t give their little girl a naked puppy — oh, no. Just like Barbie, their puppy must come with its own wardrobe.
Now I’ve been to some of the swankiest dog boutiques on the Westcoast of California and I can tell you, a cool puppy wardrobe doesn’t come cheap. You can easily spend upwards of a hundred or more dollars on a stylish little outfit for a little toy dog. I’m not knocking buying clothes for your dog, it’s just that it can get expensive. We get cold and dogs get cold too. We don’t have to go outside to do our business, but little mou-mou does. It’s sort of unavoidable. And, we spoil ourselves with nifty advances in technology like underfloor heating, miscellaneous electric doo-dads and flat screen TVs, so why not spoil our dogs by keeping them warm and toasty when they have to go outside to do the unthinkable?
Of course, those wise and thrifty know they can use Ebay as a source for funky inexpensive doggy duds, but why not teach your little girl to sew? Every pattern design house has their own dog clothes patterns. Sure some of them are dated with the little wrap-around style that no little girl’s puppy would be caught dead in, but if you’re creative, you can find some really cute and easy designs your little girl would be proud to put little Mou-Mou in.
So why not indulge her with a puppy and encourage her to learn a new useful skill, sewing. Fabric stores always have sales on fabric ends, absolutely ideal for such a small project as puppy clothes. Even old clothing can be reused as fabric for a little dog outfit. And when she’s getting into the whole sewing thing, introduce her to Michaels craft stores, where she can dress up her little project with dog themed buttons that would look marvelous on any little homemade doggy outfit.
