Dog clothes were first started by the military! Yes, that’s right! Dogs working for the military were the first canines to wear clothes. They wore clothes for practical reasons and not for fashion. Military dogs mainly wore clothes for camouflaging purposes. This helped them from averting enemy assaults and attacks.
Nowadays along with working in the military, dogs are also working for the police and also as service dogs. However, dogs are still most popular as household pets. And pet owners love their dogs so much that they make them wear clothes just like they would do with their human babies!
Dog clothing has changed over the years. At first, only the basics like t-shirts and jackets were introduced. Now the dog apparel industry is as extensive as the human clothing industry! There are all types of clothes as well as accessories, shoes and even jewelry for dogs! There are also clothes specially designed for occasions like Christmas and Halloween! It can be easily said here that clothes are not limited to humans anymore!
Most people would like to think that canine fashion is a new age thing. However, going by the history it can be easily understood that dog clothes were not introduced for fashion purposes. They were used for practical purposes only. Dogs have been with us for more than 12,000 years now. It was quite evident from the start itself that they would start wearing clothes just like us.
The first instance of a pet dog wearing clothes dates back to the year 1833. No common man had the luxury of buying clothes for their pet back then so it was a royal who had dressed up her canine companion in royal clothes! The royal in question is Princess Victoria and she had dressed up her Spaniel in a Royal Blue Jacket. The dog clothing industry really started to gain momentum from the beginning of the 19th century.
Royal families had different clothing for their pets. Just like they themselves wore different clothes at different times of the day, their dogs too would do the same. There were separate dog clothes for the morning, for the afternoon, for the evening and also for bedtime! There were also separate costumes for going to the beach! A royal pet of that time wore nothing less than a collar made of pure gold! They also wore boots which were made of silver!