If you are a regular reader, you know that most of our cats love to model clothing! We dress them in outfits made for dogs & cats, but also in outfits for teddy bears and dolls. Here are some of our favorites. Tabby is pictured above in a "Love Bug" outfit from Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Tabby, wearing her pirate girl outfit from Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Former foster kitten Smokey poses with a pot of gold.
Rori joins Tabby for Thanksgiving dinner. Tabby is dressed in a pilgrim girl dress from Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Tabby modeling a t-shirt from Bentley B. They make awesome pet clothing out of vintage human t-shirts!
Tabby when she was a model in Dove Lewis Animal Hospital's Boutiques Unleashed fashion show, wearing another Bentley B t-shirt.
Tabby in a mixture of Build-A-Bear outfits and a hippie Halloween hat, bandana, and necklace from Petco.
Freya when she was a kitten, posing in a sundress from PetSmart.
Former foster kitten Hemming posing in a tie collar from PetSmart.
Tabby and I in our matching candy corn witch outfits, bought at Party City.
Carbon hates dressing up, but he will wear a collar and tie when the occasion calls for one.
If you would like any of these pictures, please do not take them. I sell a lot of them on cards, as prints, and on other products on Zazzle. If you don't see something and would like to request it, please ask and I will make it.
Mommy got an e-mail today from DoveLewis that said some of the professional photographer pictures were up! They are at Beth Caldwell's Shutterfly page. We are in some of them. She got a couple shots of me on the runway, being petted by an audience member! Mommy's definitely going to order a couple photos for my scrapbook. :)
I'm so excited that I couldn't wait to tell everyone about my fashion show debut! Mommy brought her digital camera, so we were able to get pictures of the setting-up and some video of my part of the show!
We got there about 4:30 pm, even though we didn't need to be there until 5:30. Mommy wanted me to get accustomed to the environment before a lot of the dogs got there. It took me about 45 minutes to go from my scared spot on the couch to the floor and exploring a little. At first, I was stress-purring really hard and shaking. Mommy just let me be for a while, to let me get used to the situation on my own. Once I calmed down a bit, with her petting me, she put me down on the floor to see what I would do. I sniffed, watched one of the dogs who was there already, then jumped back up on the couch to watch as everyone started filing in.
This is the first dog to arrive, beside Lexi. Lexi is the co-owner of LexiDog, along with her human. They were helping everyone. The dog in the picture is Tucker. He really didn't seem interested in me, other than to sniff the air. In the picture, you can see all of our outfits lined up on hangers on the fence. Each one had the model's name on it, so we could easily tell whose was whose. This is Gracie the goat. She's a therapy animal with the DoveLewis Animal-Assisted Therapy & Education program. She was the surprise guest model this year.
Eowyn came in wearing a tutu! It wasn't her costume, but she loves dressing up so much that she came in an outfit.
Here is a closeup of my shirt from bentley B. It was really comfortable, and perfect for the "rocker chick" style they were going for! I just chilled in the middle of the "mini dog park" in my shirt, and let everyone love on me. All the handlers came to see me and pet me, and the dogs came over to sniff me and lick me. I got lots and lots of doggie kisses! Koda really liked me. I was the first cat he's ever seen! He sniffed me, sniffed some more, drooled a bit on me, then licked me, then sniffed some more, and then pawed me gently to see if I would play with him! Then he rolled over on his back, showing me he definitely wanted to play! I was his favorite friend there! Oliver also thought I was a good friend. He's a year and a half, and all puppy! He followed me around, and constantly wanted to sniff in my face and see what I was doing!
Next, we met the other cat team: Karen and George. So it was Karen & Tabby meeting Karen & George! We all thought that was hilarious! George spent most of his time there in a carrier, but he walked on his leash when it was his turn on the runway. First we looked at each other, sizing each other up. Then we touched noses! Immediately after touching noses, we both hissed, causing our mommies to laugh. We were fine around the dogs, but didn't want to share the spotlight with another of our own species!
We don't remember the name of this little pup, but I hung out with her for a while. She wore two outfits in the show. Mommy liked this one, so she took a couple pictures of it.
Showtime! There I am, being held by veterinarian Dr. Curtis Brandt. He and I are both in our rockstar outfits. Check out his pink-striped hair! We're just going up onto the stage here. We were the third pair to go onstage.
Mommy went upstairs to watch my part of the show. Here's a shot of the stage, right before they turned on the spotlights.
She got some video of my part, so we put that at the end of this post. When she came back downstairs, the goat was getting dressed!
There's the other cat, George, on the tv screen. They had a live feed set up, so we could watch the rest of the show from downstairs.
There were more models than that, but we couldn't get pictures of them all. There was also an intermission with an auction. It was all so fun, but I was glad when Mommy came back downstairs. Dr. Curtis had handed me to one of the volunteers, and I hugged her around the neck then lay in her arms until Mommy came for me. I hugged Mommy for a while, then sat behind her in the chair while she watched the rest of the show.
Here's the video of my part in the fashion show. The announcers are from Fox 12 Oregon.
My meeting and fitting went so well! When we first got to DoveLewis, we rode the elevator, which I don't really like but I put up with. Then, we stepped out of the elevator and saw Heather and Andy. Heather was watering plants, and said hi to us. Andy, a big black lab, came over to Mommy for pets, then went to sniff me in my stroller.
A few more people walked by when we were waiting, and I greeted them by looking at them and walking over to be petted. I also sat in the chair with Mommy, then got down and rolled over on the carpet for tummy rubs. I wanted to follow one lady into a conference room, but she wouldn't let me.
When the lady came to get us, I hopped down and walked with Mommy on my leash while she pushed the stroller. I walked partway, then wanted to go down the other hallway, so Mommy picked me up and carried me while the lady pushed the stroller.
I was fitted with a size large t-shirt. They used the ones from last summer's "Pets in the Pearl" fundraiser to do the sizes, but that's not what I'll really be wearing. When Mommy put the shirt on me, she could tell I loved the fit and fabric! I walked around the table a bit, then rolled over for tummy rubs. Everyone agreed I was being a little ham, loving all the attention (and the two cameras) focused on ME!
Then, I met the man who's going to walk with me down the runway. He learned how I like being held, and we practiced walking and showing off my outfit. He also spent some time petting me and talking with me, so that we could get comfortable working with each other.
My shirt for the fashion show will be something related to being a "rockstar chick". Dr. Brandt will be dressed in something "urban edgy New York rocker" style. Dr. Brandt's outfit will be from a shop called "Urban Edge".
The next thing...rehearsal and then the main event! The rehearsal will take place the day of, at 5:30 pm. The actual show is at 7:00 pm but doors open at 6:30.
I'm soooooo excited! Mommy gets a backstage pass, so she'll be there with me for everything except the actual runway walk. She's super-excited as well!
Boutiques Unleashed: Fashion for Both Ends of the Leash
Friday, March 13
Wonder Ballroom – 128 NE Russell, Portland
Doors open at 6:30PM. Fashion show starts at 8:00PM.
Local band Another Cynthia will begin playing at 9:30PM.
Join our presenting sponsor, Jeanette Heinz for DoveLewis’ 4th annual pet and person fashion show benefitting the DoveLewis Pet Loss Support program. Enjoy catering provided by Savor Catering and music from Area54 as local celebs walk adorable pets down the runway in the latest fashions from your favorite boutiques! Enjoy hosted hors d'oeuvres and select cocktails, bid on auction items, and don’t forget to wear something saucy!
Make sure to watch live on Fox12 KPTV next Wednesday morning to find out who our mystery model will be this year. Last year it was a llama...be sure to tune in for the big reveal!
Special thanks to Portland Picks and LexiDog for all of their enthusiastic assistance! Additional invaluable backstage support provided by Kalista Salon and Spa and The Blush Beauty Bar.
Tabby writes:
I'm going Friday to DoveLewis to meet my veterinarian co-star and get fitted for my outfit. Exciting!
I AM going to be a model for Dove Lewis Animal Hospital's Boutiques Unleashed! It's going to be March 13th, at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland, OR. Most of the other models are going to be dogs, but there will be one other cat and a llama (who is part of their animal-assisted therapy group). This is my first time being an "official" model for someone other than Mommy!
I am going to walk the runway with one of the veterinarians from Dove Lewis, so Mommy is going to arrange a meeting for us beforehand. I also am going to go to the boutique they are assigning me to (don't know which one yet) for a fitting.
Tabby says:
This is the first dog to arrive, beside Lexi. Lexi is the co-owner of LexiDog, along with her human. They were helping everyone. The dog in the picture is Tucker. He really didn't seem interested in me, other than to sniff the air. In the picture, you can see all of our outfits lined up on hangers on the fence. Each one had the model's name on it, so we could easily tell whose was whose.
This is Gracie the goat. She's a therapy animal with the DoveLewis Animal-Assisted Therapy & Education program. She was the surprise guest model this year.
Eowyn came in wearing a tutu! It wasn't her costume, but she loves dressing up so much that she came in an outfit.
Oliver also thought I was a good friend. He's a year and a half, and all puppy! He followed me around, and constantly wanted to sniff in my face and see what I was doing!
Then we touched noses! Immediately after touching noses, we both hissed, causing our mommies to laugh. We were fine around the dogs, but didn't want to share the spotlight with another of our own species!
