Animals Wearing Clothes

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No Pictures In This Article

Viewers that eagerly clicked on this link in hopes of seeing well-dressed cats and dogs will be disappointed to hear that this article itself does not contain any pictures. Rather, the purpose is to discuss why people do it, the history, safety, culture, types of animals and so forth.

Scientific Term

The scientific word for this is anthropomorphism: the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a non-human entities. A drawing of a smiling apple, with legs, and arms waving at the viewer? Anthropomorphic. A singing saxophone flying through the sky with great white wings? Anthropomorphic. Examples of anthropomorphism are seen everyday all around life whether it be real common examples with coats or boots on dogs, or cartoon and mascot examples with internationally known icons such as Sonic The Hedgehog, Tom & Jerry, Donald Duck, Michelin Man, and Energizer.

Why Do People Put Clothes On Animals?

Mankind has been long fascinated with animals. Naturally, this means that people will bond with their animals and project some human emotions onto them: giving them names, special toys, equipment and in some cases clothes. With the presence of the Internet and even dedicated Instagram, Twitter, and Subreddits solely for animals in clothes, it has made the phenomenon all the more common. Some people will put clothes on animals because they think it is cute, stylish, and expressive. Others will put clothes on animals for more functional purposes namely protection and identification. This brings up a question: is it uncomfortable for the animal?

Cruelty?

Is it cruel to dress up animals? Some people have concerns about animals getting hurt or uncomfortable when more material is unnaturally added to their bodies. Truth is it varies upon the circumstance and what type of clothing article is being added to the animal’s body. If the animal is clearly responding with discomfort by trying to rub it off, biting at it, twitching, or making distressed sounds, then these are telltale signs that the animal is not enjoying it. It should also be reminded that it may be a matter of the animal not being used to wearing clothes. In this scenario, it is important to be patient with the animal, try different clothes, and be mindful of how the animal responds to the outfits. Even with this in mind, some veterinary technicians will warn that dogs, for the most part would rather not wear clothes at all. With working animals it is crucial that they do wear collars, harnesses, or some piece of article that warns people to either not touch them, or to identify that it belongs to law enforcement such as police.

Dogs

For dogs with short hair that live in cold climates, it is recommend to have them wear canine jackets or sweaters to prevent cold-related complications. Additionally, some owners will even put paw footwear on their feet to protect them from abrasive salt in the winter used to melt ice. Similarly, owners that live in highly urbanized areas may also put dog shoes on their pets to prevent the dog’s pads from getting scorched from the hot pavement. Some owners may opt for grass walks, anointing the feet with certain products, or walking during cooler times of the day.

Cats

What about cats? Is the cat in the red dress enjoying it, or the other one in the striped shirt? A doctor said that she has never seen a cat wearing a costume or clothing piece that looked happy per his facial and body language. She further stated that costumes are also very dangerous for cats to wear, because the elastic or binding that holds the costume on can cut off circulation and result in damage to, or possible loss, of a limb or tail. The same person did admit that an exception is that if your pet is trained to tolerate a collar, that owners can give them a holiday-themed breakaway collar. If it is not obvious enough, this has by no means stopped people from giving their cats complete outfits. Truth be told, whether people agree on giving cats clothes or not, both parties could agree that if the animal is accustomed to it, it is only very temporary, and the materials are not too tight or dangerous, it can make for a highly amusing, deeply satisfying experience for the owner and even for the cat, so long as they are rewarded for their photoshoot.

Birds In Clothes

Cats and dogs tend to get most of the attention in the animal fashion world. Birds also happen to have a lot of outfits available for them, too. Parrots in particular dominant the avian fashion scene. Is there any practical reason for birds to wear clothes? In the case of free-flight birds, a bird harness is a commonly seen accessory placed on a bird’s body to prevent the bird from taking off at the wrong time. If the bird happens to be a bird of prey as a falcon or eagle, bird hoods are used on them to keep them calm. Raptors are not used to sudden changes in light, sounds, and movements, thus making them particularly easy to startle. Bird collars are commonly used on parrots recovering from surgery or a wound, and to stop self-mutilating birds from doing further damage. Due to the presence of a beak and wings, getting a bird to wear clothes can be even more challenging, since they can fly. Having a bird’s trust is required for ease of placement with accessories and clothes. Aside from practical matters, bird collars may be placed on a bird simply for laughs and entertainment or seasonal themes. The same thing can be said for birds in suits, dresses, hoodies, and hats. Hats are by far the most common accessory to place on birds because it is not only visually amusing, but easier for both the bird and human alike. Hat-wearing birds are often seen with fedoras, straw hats, caps, or conical hats. High-Vis Safety Chicken Jackets are also apparently a thing. Not terribly common, but exist. On the subject of chickens, as well as ducks and geese, people that opt for keeping a pet of these species indoors may place bird nappies on them when they are left to roam at large. 

Reptiles In Clothes

The mammals and birds that are commonly kept as pets have plenty of clothes and accessories made for them. Some owners will even affectionately refer to them as furbabies or feather babies. Is the same true for commonly kept reptiles, exempli gratia, snakes and lizards? Absolutely! In fact, bearded dragons, iguanas, geckos, and skinks wearing clothes is apparently so amusing to reptile enthusiasts, that an e-Store called Fashion Brand Company, has a section dedicated to clothes for lizards. Owners can buy dresses, clown suits, jump suits, sweaters, jackets, and gowns for their beloved scaly friends. With bearded dragons particularly, there is such a sheer amount of Internet images and videos of them wearing clothes and accessories, to the point that they can be viewed as the “Cats & Dogs” of the reptile fashion world. What about snakes? Do they have clothes and accessories available for them? Certainly! Plenty of choices, too. When people accessorize snakes, it frequently done by putting a hat with a strap over the serpent’s head. Snakes wearing hats is apparently popular. Popular enough to the point that a massively popular Subreddit called r/SnakesWithHats exists.

With cats and dogs, there are scenarios where accessories or clothes actually makes sense. With reptiles, most people do not talk them for walks, nor do they need to concerned about collars to make it easier to identify or find them. What purpose does it serve to put clothes on ancient, scaly animals? Unsurprisingly, the same reasons people do it for feathered and furry ones: because it is funny, cute, and amusing. Though reptiles have come a long way from being generally stigmatized as unfriendly, unsuitable pets, snakes in particular are still a common phobia to many people. Dressing snakes in crochets, vests, hats, and shirts shows that they too, can look cute, funny, and amusing in their own ways. Shows that they are not all venomous, man-eating, cold-hearted monsters. Still, some critics express concerns in that reptiles have absolutely no need to ever wear clothes, and that it can stress them out and hurt them. As with other animals, the same rules of caution apply with reptiles wearing clothes: do not use clothes too tight or toxic, do not force the animal, be slow and gentle, and only keep the clothes on for short period of times, with an example being a photoshoot. Bug-eating, rodent-constricting, greenery-eating, scaly creatures are not things people expect to see in bunny ears, cowboy hats, and crochets, thus making it more eye-catching when they do wear clothes. 

History Of Animals Wearing

Accessorizing animals goes all the way back the times of the Ancient Egyptians. They did not dress up their canines the way later people do, but did put collars on them. The tomb of an Egyptian nobleman named Maihar Piri who lived around 1440 BC had the depiction of an accessorized dog. Portrayals of dogs with collars or ribbons were also found in other tombs. Cats were even more fancily dressed with tombs clearly showing them in fancy collars, bands, and yes, even ear piercings. This likely has to do with Bastet and the sacred relations they had with cats in general. Cats and dogs in early China and Japan had also been depicted with collars. Particularly in Japan’s case, royal Samurai dogs even got matching armor. When the Europeans started dressing their animals, this is where things got really interesting. European royalty were the first to fully dress their dogs in clothes. Looking at their paintings, their dogs can be seen wearing collars, coats, and necklaces richly embellished with precious stones and metals. 

Here To Stay

Whatever can be dressed, has been dressed. Even rats, chelonians, elephants, alligators, cattle and usual animals have been dressed before. And to no surprise, primates. Of all animals, they happen to fit most human clothes most naturally owing to having such similar physiques. Whether people like it or not, animals wearing clothes is here to stay. Not only is it a highly profitable industry, it makes animals owners and admirers smile. Most of them. One thing that is certain, is that it does not fail to get people commenting or thinking: good or bad.