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These aren't just lovely portraits of people posing with their pets, but look a little closely and you'll see that the owners are wearing sweaters and vests that resemble the fur of their dogs. And they should because they were literally made from them.
Below is a series of photographs (an ongoing project) by photographer Erwan Fichou of people posing with their beautiful dogs, sporting canine couture... actual sweaters and vests made from the hair (fur?) of their own pet dogs.
Here is the description of the series:
Dogwool series, 2005-2007. Eleven portraits (in progress)
The hair, especially hair known as the stuffing, once recovered after brushing, is carefully preserved until the amount necessary to achieve the knit structure.
The hair is spun into balls of 50 g by a specialist before returning via mail, to its owner.
C-prints, 40 * 50 cm, Marie-Louise, glass, wooden framework.
To see more of photographer Erwan Fichou's unusual work, go here.The hair, especially hair known as the stuffing, once recovered after brushing, is carefully preserved until the amount necessary to achieve the knit structure.
The hair is spun into balls of 50 g by a specialist before returning via mail, to its owner.
C-prints, 40 * 50 cm, Marie-Louise, glass, wooden framework.
Apparently there are a few people out there who actually make clothes from your pet's hair or fur.
Pet Yarn Chic makes hats, scarves and wraps from your pet's 'yarn'.
Above: Bettina Menkhoff, 50, from Stoetze in Germany makes scarves, gloves and other clothes and sells them over the internet at www.jolly-fellows.de
Above: Pam Gardner, of Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire, has at least six jumpers and cardigans made from her pet Old English sheepdogs. She says they are warm and soft, similar to jumpers made from Angora goats' wool. Mrs Gardner, who charges £11 to turn 100g of dog or cat hair into wool, says the conversion is too labor-intensive to be anything more than a hobby. She has made wool from about 30 breeds of dog, including alsatians and chow chows, and had about 200 customers.
Above: Betsy Willis first used the fur of Kara, to knit her husband's sweater in 1990. Mrs Willis, 71, said she had the idea after seeing a picture of Princess Diana wearing a dog fur stole at Crufts.
She said: "Kara was a pedigree Samoyed. She was so posh, if she could have talked she'd not have spoken to the likes of us. "We found out from the breeders we got the pups from that it was possible to use their coat for clothes. "It is the most amazing stuff. It's like mohair but more lightweight and more soft, and the more you wash it, the more soft and fluffy it gets." Mrs Willis added: "People are surprised when they find out we're wearing dog wool clothes. Some think it's disgusting and ask how we can do it, but it seems very normal to us." Even now, Mrs Willis has enough hair left over to make a new jumper, and it has been sent to a friend in Derby to be spun.
Wanna try it yourself?
You can purchase the following book at Amazon:
ADDENDUM
My apologies to the owners of such sweet dogs as Chinese Cresteds and American Hairless Terriers.
Thanks to an anonymous reader who sent me this:
81 comments:
why why why do people insist on wearing fur and torturing animals when we can do this?
it might not be as pretty but it keeps you warm and isnt that the point of wearing fur?
I love this post, Laura. I featured it on my blog today. Yay, dog fur sweaters. Brilliant!
http://dreamdogsart.typepad.com/art/2008/10/cozy-dog-fur-sweaters-for-you.html
Epic. Simply epic.
Love these pictures! Beautiful! As a hand-spinner, 'chiengora' AKA dog fluff is one of my favorite fibers to spin into yarns :)
@ anonymus 1
because its not always possible:
http://www.freewebs.com/american_hairless_terrier/Naked-Heart.jpg
too bad there are no Great Pyrenees folks here - lots of pretty white sweaters!
I love fur but......Ewww!! Gross
Anne McKee's "Never Knit Dog" essay in the first KnitLit is a good read.
Finally! A sweater I can chase cars in!
Not a bad idea (the fur sweaters), but the guy didn't put much effort into his "portraits". He should just post on Flikr.
I think its a great idea...you get it from BRUSHING THEM. I know that my family has a bunch of dogs and it all just gets stuck on the floor! To think it could be useful! So this is a great thing and an open market for small businesses as well! Great idea!!
Don't get caught in the rain! "You smell like wet dog."
In regards to smell, if you clean the fiber properly with a bio-enzyme, and remove the oils from the 'chiengora' (AKA dog fluff), I've had no problems with the 'wet dog' smell, or any complaints of smells from people who've bought chiengora yarns from me.
It's the oils of the coat that smell, so removing those fixes the problem. If anything, IMO, the 'wet sheep' smell of not properly washed wool smells worse than dog to me! LOL
My personal favorite dog fiber is Samoyed. 10 times warmer than wool, and angora, and waterproof! They are defiantly a "Wool breed" *G*
Emily~ DreamEyce Studio
They found an ancient piece of an article of clothing at Ozette, part of the Makah nation in the NW Olympic Penensula that had dog hair as part of it's fiber (I believe with other plant fibers and feathers as well).
Still wouldn't please the most die-hard of vegans, however, as it's an animal product nonetheless, no matter how obtained. An analogy would be using a shed antler, or a dead bird's feathers.
Can they work with cat fur?!?
Yup! Many Eskimo, and Indian tribes have used 'chiengora' as a staple in their textiles. In cold places, dog fur is one of the best warmers there is!
Cat fur (Or any fur long enough!) can be spun too, and has the added benefit of not having the stinky oils, which need to be cleaned from dog furs.
The only thing that'll make die-hard vegans happy is if no one had pets, or used ANYTHING animal related... but please, think of the plants and their feelings too!
*G*
Vegans object to eating animals, or using animal products which involves cruelty to the animal. This doesn't and therefore is a great idea. Hopefully this method won't be confused with clothing out of dog and cat pelts. Clothing made from dog and cat fur was banned from being imported into Australia a couple of years ago after a campaign by animal rights activists because of the extreme cruelty involved..dogs and cats are often skinned while still alive. There are videos on UTube of foxes being skinned alive for their fur.
Great post, and fabulous idea..too bad my dog has short hair :-)
What a great idea! I love all of the colors, and I've pet some really really soft dogs whos fur would make smooshy soft yarn.
As for vegans, it isn't only about the cruelty of the animal. It is also about using animals as a product, and not a living being. (Even if the animal is given the most humane treatment, merely using them is considered inhumane and overstepping our bounds.)
Also, factory raising of animals for products depletes the earth more rapidly than just about anything you can think of.
this is just wonderful.one of my cats sheds a load of fur everyday and as he's twelve I've often wondered what he would look like as a sweater.
I'm hope you don't mind but I am going to link it my blog too :)
Nice pictures and post, thanks for sharing!
Hallo! We are from Russia! We like dogs very much. We have been making clothes from the hair of the dog for 10 years. Welcome to see our beatiful items at
http://sobachya-sherst.narod.ru/
Kindest Wishes, Anastasia and Nina
sobachya- sherst @yandex.ru
What an excellent story, and such wonderful honest portraits by the artist.
I've been collecting Kanika's gossamer undercoat for the four years I've had my petite parti-eyed dilute-black husky lady and I have yet to find a wool weaver in Poland who will turn my giant bag of fluff into a big bag filled with balls of yarn. If anybody knows of someone, or if you know of a place in Europe that accepts mail orders, please post.
ailatan- A great way to find local spinners, is look for a local spinning shop, guild, or even check with online spinner groups. If that doesn't work, ask local knit shop owners. Many crafters are closely connected!
I don't personally know of any spinning businesses or hobbyists, in Poland, but there's spinners all over if you know where to look for them *G*
The other option of course, is learn to spin! It's a soothing hobby, plus spinning wheels, and drop spindles are beautiful looking decor items. Spinning is not a very challenging task. In the old days, children did all the spinning. My 4 year old daughter spins on spindles, and wheels (Has since she was almost 3!)
Drop spindles (AKA handspindles) are a low-cost way to learn the art of handspinning, and there's many online tutorials on spinning. There's many beautifully crafted spindles, for every visual preference (Including hand-painted dog spindles!)! If you like spindling, then you can move on to investing in a wheel, for faster spinning and plying.
We have a dog (Ganda) whose ancestry probably includes husky, collie, and others. Anyway, she's an 80# blonde with a long flagged tail. My partner (Marianne) spins, so naturally we collect it when we brush her. We have shopping bags full. The hair is long enough so its used straight - no sheep or other specie's fiber is mixed in. Spun, its kind of a non-descript beige. As Ganda has gotten older - she's 11 years, now - her fur has lost some of its lustre. Its silky enough that I've tried to talk Marianne into spinning it with some alpaca, but she just prefers it straight. People mistake it for angora. We don't wash it first and its spun without carding, though any bits of this or that are picked out while spinning.
It absolutely does not have an odor when wet. My knit hat is incredibly warm, odorless when wet, and absolutely waterproof. Its nicer than any sheep or alpaca hat I've had. I suspect that part of the high quality of Ganda's hair is because of where we live in the wet cold of the Pacific Northwest in Washington state, USA.
-Steve
This is just plain gross!
Great post, interesting
I've got here thru Planet Green, and when I first read the title I thought "isn't it a bit gross?", until I saw the pics and then I then I figured out that if we wear sheep wool why don't we wear our loved pet's wool.
Fantastic idea, and great colours, too. I don't think I have enough patience to get my dog' hair, or if there's any spinning place in a 200 km radius, but if I had both I would definitely do it!!!
Take care and keep on good posting!!
Evvie
To fitness fanatic and others who think this is gross, I have to ask why. Why is using the fur of a dog any different than spinning the coats from sheep, alpacas, llamas or any of the other animals traditionally raised for their wool? Granted, I don't think I would want to walk around matching my dogs, but I think it's a great idea putting the shed hair to good use. As others have mentioned, particular breeds offer definite benefits when it comes to clothing and hats.
I LOVE animals... i think they are delicious!!
...Those dogs sure are attractive for lots of sweater styles, wrap-around, off-the-shoulder, marble cake, heck even a vest seems like a great idea
The problem with dog-hair clothing is that it looks exactly like dog-hair clothing. This phenomenon may well extend to the smell, too.
Wow.. this is not creepy at all. I mean, wait no, my bad... it's extremely, extremely creepy.
You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! These look ridiculous!! If the point is just to stay warm why not use many garbage bags or burlap??? This is really a stupid idea.
Wow...
Thank you interwebz for chipping away just a little more of my faith in humanity!
Wow. Are people really this stupid? Talk about someone who has waaaaaay to much time on thier hands.
If there is a way of doing this that involves killing the dog, I am all for it. I would LOVE to wear my mother-in-laws dog.
Hey! Today's posts! Hello fellow cracked.com readers! Look who else shares my opinions!
@Cracked HAHAHA. I really have no words. I guess you can find people that do anything these days.
Dog fur? Are you serious? Those things look atrocious.
You vegan nazis make me lose faith in human kind, seriously.
Ahhh, now I can see why the commenters suddenly began sounding like junior high flunkies: They're visiting from Cracked's site.
How many times do you have to shave a dog to make a sweater? Do you just keep a bag of dog fur in your house to make a sweater eventually? This is one of the wierdest/strangest things on the web.
Dog Hair Clothing? Really? You people are freakin' sick.
I have a question for you naysayers from Cracked: Why is dog hair any different as a fiber than the wool from sheep, alpaca, llama, angora, or any other animal? It's all basically hair in different forms. God forbid you ever wear a wool sweater. And what about cotton? Ewwww, it's from plants! That's just crazy!
Milton Keynes isn't in Northamptonshire. It's in Buckinghamshire.
It's really an aesthetic thing than anything else. That, combined with the common cultural perceptions of dogs (Man's best friend, bad smell in the rain, licking one's own balls) leads them to perceive such a thing as "sick".
Their comments, while juvenile (as most cracked.com readers are), are not completely misplaced. They're simply taking a side, as one is prone to do on the internet.
I myself am not too fond of these types of jackets, primarily because of the "homemade" look they are sporting. Making a fur jacket requires a bit more skill than these people have.
If you really want to see them get all uppity and immature, ask them about Dr. Chaos, JasonVorhees, or members of the furry community in general. They'll show you their true color then.
at what point in the process do you have sex with the dogs?
I'll pass on that, thanks! The comments at YouTube are bad enough. LOL
If I have a hangover, will it go away if I put on one of these sweaters?
Why don't we shave our pubes and knit sweaters out of those?
What do you do with the leather? I'd make some killer buttliss chaps with that shit.
another reader from cracked here, except i'm also a girl on the internet. so divide by zero, i guess.
anyway, i don't think this is sick or wrong or weird at all. the animals i see are clearly all long-haired dogs, clearly unshaven. so there goes that animal cruelty argument.
i used to have a roommate with a long-haired dog who would shed, especially in the summer months, at least a toy-dog sized clump of fur per day. this roommate once remarked that it seemed almost wasteful to chuck it all away, and that we should just spin it into yarn and make stuff with it. nowhere in my wildest dreams did i think that someone else already did this, much less wrote a book about it.
honestly, kudos. i think it's pretty frickin' neat myself. thanks for being rad, internet.
Waaaaaaaaaaay ahead of you Ratchet573
why sleep with a bitch that you picked up off the street when you can have sex with mans best friend!
stop it. really. just stop trying to defend making clothes out of pet hair. you can't say anything that hasn't already been said, so just get over it. it's weird and primitive and an enormous waste of time that could be well spent doing absolutely anything other than this
This is like.. The Glinda the Good Witch version of Cruella DeVil.. Still a bit weird, because people tend to think of you looking at your pet, not wearing it. Overall, it is an interesting thing to do Other people have been doing this for many years, so all in all, this isn't a completely strange and outlandish thing to do.
& by the way, I am a Cracked.com fan and a straight A student at University. Don't assume that all the readers are high school dropouts.
So... when do we eat them?
Oh my god this the single stupidest idea that has ever entered the minds of human beings. There is absolutely no good reason, let me repeat that NO GOOD REASON why people would make clothing out of dog hair, there is simply no way to validate this activity.
I love my dog, but I sure as shit am not going to WEAR him. And it looks terrible. Maybe slippers. Maybe, if everything I own burns to the ground.
Came here from the link on Cracked, so I guess that makes me juvenile.
Anyway, I think I'll stick to buying sweaters rather than waiting for my dogs to shed enough so that I can make my own.
I think this is a great idea! I can't wait to gird my sweaty loins in Weiner Dog fur!
hi,
This conversation is going no where. It’s lacking the place of a good leader to head the things to come out on conclusion.
william
Baby Gear
I'm also here from cracked.com, and also a girl, so like the previous commenter said, just divide by negative zero now.
I've got a keeshond and a kees-mix, and those girls blow their coats twice a year where we live. So, what's worse, having dog yarn fingerless gloves in that sub-artic hellhole that is my pharmacology lab, or freezing my fingertips off five nights a week because *gasp* I'm wearing dog wool.
For all naysayers, *everything* goes with jeans.
But anyway, living in Puerto Rico, there's not much of any spinning clubs around here. Anyone know of a search-engine to find the nearest dog-wool buyer? I'd brush the girls daily instead of shave them down twice a year if there was some profit to be had. (dammned expensive textbooks).
Dear blog owner. Feel free to kill any posts by the juvenile people from cracked. Keep the intelligent ones who don't bash these things for no good reason.
Keep in mind, I said "most" cracked.com's readers. There are a few who actually don't reek of immaturity and 4chan.
(decided to stop being just cracked.com. Hello to any who recognize me)
Either way, just get codycastor off of here. Can't stand him.
My dear cracked.com readers, non cracked.com readers, my regular readers and others who have posted comments,
I'm not going to step in or remove any posts as long as they are relevant, regardless of the particular point of view.
Besides, I have enjoyed watching the fur fly, so to speak.
;)
the editor
hi there, you are one small step in your process away from becoming an evil disney character. just inconspicously slip the little step murder puppies right between find dog and collect fur.
All you people that think this isnt sick or ask whats the difference between a dog fur sweater or one from sheep!?!?! This is your dog, your pet, if this catche on maybee in a month you all will think its normal to shave yor little brothers head and make a sweater out of that huu????
I think the main problem people have with this notion is that, in the U.S. at least, dogs are primarily "companion" animals, as opposed to "resource" animals. I know the term "resource animals" is a sick concept in general, but, unfortunately, it's the truth. As a U.S. citizen, I see nothing wrong with eating mutton or wearing wool. I see nothing wrong with eating beef or wearing leather(even though the cow must die for my warmth). But, due to the culture I was raised in--even if there's no rational argument for it, I think it's strange to eat dog or wear dog fur.
Eating dogs, and wearing the sheddings of a dog spun into a yarn then made into a fabric are two differnt worlds. Someone would eat my dogs, over my dead body, but I'll gladly use their hair to spin into things to use in crafts.
My dogs hair isn't soft enough to wear, but I've made ornaments, picture frames, and such with the sheddings I'd otherwise throw away from my dogs. It's all for fun, from something that'd otherwise end up on (or under) my couch, or as refuse.
As someone who's owned sheep (wool), goats (mohair), and of course, dogs, I have to say dogs are no dirtier than goats and sheep. The babies you pet in petting zoos, aren't like the smelly, greasy adults they shave the wool off of!
When properly washed, dog hair doesn't retain smell, so can be worn just like wools, but is much warmer, and depending on the breed, often softer than any wool. Samoyed fiber as example, is like angora (rabbit) wool, only much warmer. Samoyed is actually seen as a very luxurious fiber.
I don't personally see spinning as a wasteful hobby at all. No more wasteful than knitting, quilting, or surfing random websites online. I spin more than just dog hairs, and for novelty, enjoy spinning many fibers- including cotton, and dryer lint! Everyone has hobbies, and their own interests. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone, what's the problem?
While wearing dog hair may not interest everyone, spinning is a well loved, and valid hobby by many, and I've found to be more relaxing and enjoyable than knitting, or crochet.
Hmm, my first thought was that it would be itchy, but no one seems to think that. :)Maybe I`m the only person who gets itchy leaning against a dog. That being said, this could be pretty handy if you ended up in a survival situation . . . though I personally prefer cotton. Oh, it probably helps that I live in a tropical country. ;)
Also a cracked reader...I say to each their own. Make all the clothing you like from your pets. I think it would be nice to have a piece of your pet to keep after they are gone.
This is creepy and makes the owner look about 100 pounds heavier.
Nice article
Animals aren't tortured for fur, dumbass, they're killed for it. It's natural.
I can only imagine how allergenic this shit is.
It's the dander that people are allergic to, not the hair itself. If the hair is washed thoroughly, allergies probably aren't an issue. I agree that the clothing is not at all flattering!
Im looking at my terrier with a big grin on my face >:)
Hey, what a cool blog! I don't know about my hairless Chinese Crested, but maybe my other dogs would oblige me.
Check out my new blog: Top Dog Blog!
It's still pretty new, but I'll be adding new content and pictures daily.
Visit http://topdogblog1.blogspot.com
See you there!
Kim
It's interesting how many people commenting don't realise just how far they've wandered into psychosis.
Wearing your dog's fur? What's next drinking their milk? Or...you know let's just leave it at the milk
I have had two huskies for 5 years now and twice a year they shed a sack full of hair each, I have often thought that it is such a waist to throw it away, it is silky soft and there is so much of it.
I must admit that the thought of wearing a dog hair jumper didn't apeal to me untill my freind who loves my huskies said "not a dog hair jumper but a pure soft husky wool scaff" this to me sounded a little more apealing.
I have notice that there are quite alot of people who find this unplesent and have been quite rude when voicing their veiws, it just made me think, what is the difference between dog fur and wool from a sheep, I know my huskies certainly smell nicer and are cleaner than sheep.
At the end of the day they are both animals and I dont really understand why people are so repulsed by this.
Its a great idea, maybe not a jumper but a scaff or even a little blanket as a keepsake or reminder for us when our beloved pet that will eventually leave us.
Where are the dog hair hot pants and thongs? I want my danger zone indirectly rubbing all over my dog.
this is ridiculous...
why would you want to keep a memento from your animal...
ok wait i guess you would want to so my bad but why would you choose to keep their hair??? people complain non stop about the dog and cat hair that gets stuck to their clothing and now you want to make clothing out of it... i missed the part where dog hair became chic
if you want a memento keep their food dish or water bowl, or the hair brush even, but dont keep the thing that we despise the most about our furry friends
Poke fun all you want but when the world economic system collapses people are going to be scrambling to find something that they can barter for a nice warm doggy sweater.
What the hell is wrong with these people. Those coats have to stink, especially when it is damp outside.
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