Halloween Costume Parade: Ru the Hot Dog and Brisbane's Lobster Hat

Happy Halloween! This my favorite holiday, and my house is decorated for it year-round. I'm pretty sure the neighborhood kids think I'm a witch, and I am ok with this. Brisbane,Sisci, and Ru aren't thrilled with the idea of showing off costumes in person, but they are happy to pose for pictures! I haven't made them anything new in a while, so here is what I found at the bottom of the costume bin...

Photo by Erin Koski

Ru on a Bun

This tiny hot dog costume was a thrift store find that was just waiting for us. I always knew Ru needed to be served on a bun. Just look at him, he's probably delicious. The hot dog costume just works. 

As a dog that wears clothes pretty much full time, Ru agrees that the hot dog costume works. It's sort of designed for the purpose of embarrassing your long-bodied dog, but Ru is totally chill with it. He has been a stegosaurus and a fairy princess before, dressing up is just part of his day.

Photo by Erin Koski

This Lobster Hat

I believe I bought this ridiculous lobster hat at Target when Brisbane was a baby. He hated it. Briz hates most clothes. He will, however, pose in nearly anything for treats. 

This is not the best design I've ever seen, but dog hats in general are problematic because the angle between their head and neck changes so much more than ours. The lobster hood has a couple of really obvious flaws. First, those ear slits beside the eyes. What dog is big enough to wear this thing and has ears that tiny? Not Brisbane. They're also way too far forward, especially for how much back-of-head room there is.

The back-of-head space is the worst part, the hood is nearly too small for Brisbane, but has enough space to fit a tennis ball between his head and the back of the hood. I want to see the dog that has that much skull back there.

Photo by Erin Koski

Combined with the weight of the plush pinchers, this flaw means the hood is going to slip forward over the dog's eyes almost immediately. Not so great if you want the dog to actually walk and function while wearing it.

But totally awesome if you just want to laugh for a while and then take it off.

What is your dog going to be for Halloween?

Photo by Erin Koski

Halloween Costume Parade: Purple Dragon Felt Costume

Continuing our Halloween fashion show, here is Sisci wearing a costume I made for my cocker spaniel when I was in college. The material is sparkly purple felt with batting in the middle to help it keep its shape.

Photo by Erin Koski

I recall originally having fishing line strung between the wings to keep them up in flying position. Oakley the cocker spaniel was the sort of dog who could chill in a room full of people and thoroughly enjoyed parties. She liked wearing clothes and didn't even seem to notice this costume so I assume it's comfortable.

The double layer of felt plus the batting inside makes it pretty cushy, and it stands up by itself. This was custom made to fit Oakley but has fit pretty much every 20-30 lb dog I've tried it on. Sisci's chest is just a tiny bit too big for the velcro to stay attached between her front legs.

Photo by Erin Koski

I don't sew very often because I find myself doing more un-sewing and mistake-fixing than anything else. Projects that would take 30 minutes without errors often take 3 hours. Most of my friends who sew feel the same way. We sew because we want stuff we can't acquire any other way, not because seamstressing is inherently enjoyable.

Halloween Costume Parade: Target Cheerleader Dog Costume

Halloween is my favorite holiday! Since Brisbane and Sisci aren't huge social butterflies, I don't normally dress them up and take them out to costume contests. I do love costumes though, so I thought I'd share a few of them here.

Photo by Erin Koski

This Cheerleader Dog Costume was originally available at Target and probably came in three or four sizes. Ours is from a thrift store. It's a medium and the shirt part fits Sisci perfectly. It's comfortably stretchy and opens in the front so it's easy to put on. Sisci doesn't mind wearing it.

The pom poms are way too big for her skinny legs. To keep them on, I tied a couple of the strands together. She didn't mind that either. Sisci is a lot less melodramatic than Brisbane.

I'm not sure what the Australian Cattle Dog cheer is, but it probably mentions biting in there somewhere.

Photo by Erin Koski

Chihuahua Fashion Moment: Capes!

Capes aren't the most practical dog accessory, but they are among the coolest.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is actually a cat costume, it's a little vampire cape with a velcro closure in the front. Ru looks totally adorable in a cape.

Photo by Erin Koski

As cute as it is, this cape is a little short for Ru. This seems a little odd because it is intended for a cat, and most cats are a lot bigger than my chihuahua. Ru is about 6.5 pounds, while the smallest of my three cats is about 10 pounds. The cape might fit a kitten, but I think it's a little better suited to a tiny dog.

Chihuahua Fashion Moment: Licensed Disney Tinkerbell Costume

I found this licensed Disney Tinkerbell costume in a local store three years ago, before Disney bought Star Wars and Princess Leia became a Disney Princess. There was a Snow White dress that I felt was much more recognizable, but alas they did not have in Ru-size.

Photo by Erin Koski

The costume included a removable set of fairy wings, a pair of legwarmers, and the dress itself. It's not a faithful rendition of the movie character's outfit, but the same is true for most Disney Princess costumes. The major difference here is that Ru's dress doesn't include a little cameo with a picture of Tinkerbell on the front. The little legwarmers are a nice touch, they like a bit like Tinkerbell's green shoes with the white pompoms.

Photo by Erin Koski

I'm not sure exactly what type of dog the designer of this costume had in mind, but I'm pretty sure it was a pug. The dress is very short and almost too small for Ru, but the legwarmers are much, much too big. Even though they have a very wide strip of velcro down the back to allow for a range of different-sized legs, they are still about twice as big around as Ru's legs.

Photo by Erin Koski

This year it looks like Petsmart has all the licensed Disney costumes for dogs. Princesses and fairies aren't in vogue though, it looks like Winnie the Pooh and the Muppets are the only options for aspiring Disney dogs.