FASHION: IT'S GOING TO THE DOGS

Sew What | Enya Barbeau 

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This week I’ve had the connection between animals, clothing, and museums on the brain—prompted by the latest episode of The Sunday Edition, where Michael Enright engaged Marc Bekoff, ecologist and evolutionary biologist, in a fascinating conversation about the inner lives and cultural practices of non-human animals. Museums’ fashion and textile collections are overwhelmingly stocked with items made by and for people. But our lives are intertwined with members of other species—and we humans are eager to put our opposable thumbs to use crafting garments for them.

Consider the dog. A walk through the streets of Toronto is enough to prove how eagerly we extend our passion for fashion to our canine companions. Coats and booties are popular choices in the winter, replaced with bandannas and rain jackets in the warmer months. Some fashion houses have even introduced speciality lines for dogs. Sadly, it’s a trend that can cross the line into animal mistreatment. The Ontario SPCA recommends the judicious use of seasonal garments for certain breeds—but the human desire to play dress-up should never supersede the comfort of the animal.

Guilty dog face, c. 1886 (source).

While dog fashion may have blossomed in the petri dish of consumer capitalism, it’s hardly a new phenomenon. Just ask your friendly neighbourhood museums and archives! (Or, take advantage of the many digitization projects that are enabling greater public access to collections and ask a museum on the other side of the world!) Dog owners have kitted out their pets with full-fledged wardrobes for centuries.

Velvet collar featuring insignia of Charles XI of Sweden, c. 1670-1690 (source).

The most common relic in museum collections is, unsurprisingly, the dog collar. Leeds Castle boasts a Dog Collar Museum that features neckwear from the 15th through 19th centuries, ranging from fearsome spiked iron specimens to gilded finery worthy of a jewellery box. Other institutions have older examples. The 2004-2011 travelling exhibition Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs included a leather dog collar that dates to 1426-1390 BCE.

Textile-based artifacts are a trickier beast, as there are fewer surviving examples. However, historic literature and artwork suggest that it was not unheard of for upper-class dog-owners to kit out their pets with fancy accessories and, in some cases, entire wardrobes. In an 1833 diary entry, then-Princess Victoria recorded the evening outfit of her beloved spaniel: “I dressed dear sweet little Dash for the second time after dinner in a scarlet jacket and blue trousers.”

Dash (left) and brethren, sans trousers (source).

The hotspot for dog fashion was, of course, Paris. A series of pet-care books reference the elaborate attire that a dog-about-town might acquire, including ensembles for afternoon calls, evening parties, travel, and days at the beach. In Chien de luxe—truly a manifesto for the ages—Mme. Charles Boeswillwald recommends lace underclothes to lend “a special cachet to the outfit.” (For more on the well-dressed Parisian canine, please check out Kathleen Kete’s The Beast in the Boudoir: Pet-keeping in nineteenth-century Paris.)

Fragonard depicts a mistress and pup with complementary ruffs, 1769 (source). 

By the twentieth century, the proletariat counterparts of these upper-crust dogs were receiving clothing of their own—in the shape of uniforms. One of the few surviving examples I could find of textile-based dog clothing is found in the collections of the Royal Air Force Museum. A Royal Flying Corps tailor custom-made the military-style jacket, complete with military badges, for an officer's terrier. The tradition of apparel and protective gear for working dog continues today; think bullet-proof vests for police dogs and vests and harnesses for service dogs.

As our relationships with dogs and other creatures continue to evolve, it makes sense to acknowledge the important social and cultural role that non-human animals play. I would welcome a dog’s “pretty embroidered coat” or “chic… bathing outfit” alongside human fashion in our museum collections any day.