Study Finds That Pets Express Displeasure in Ways Owners Find Adorable and Pets Find Incomprehensible
Pet Costumes Sweep Asia as Owners Discover Animals Have Opinions About Being Dressed
Continent Asks Whether Pets Can Consent and Then Dresses Them Anyway
TOKYO — Animal behaviour and consumer culture researchers published findings this week on the booming pet costume industry across Asia, confirming that the region’s extraordinary pet ownership rates — Japan, South Korea, China, and Singapore all reporting significant increases in pet populations over the past decade — combined with the pet fashion industry’s creative output and social media’s appetite for adorable content, has produced a market for pet clothing and costumes that continues to grow despite the documented absence of pet enthusiasm for the experience.
The study covered pet costume culture across Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, finding that pet costume purchasing and application was increasing across all markets, that social media sharing of costumed pets was among the highest-engagement content categories, and that the pets’ response to the costuming process was uniformly and comprehensively irrelevant to whether the costuming occurred.
Japan’s Pet Fashion Sophistication
Japan contributed what researchers found the most developed pet fashion market: specialist boutiques, seasonal collections, custom tailoring services, and a level of design sophistication that positions pet clothing alongside human fashion in terms of trend responsiveness and quality of construction.
“The kimono was made to measure,” said one Tokyo dog owner of a garment produced for her Shiba Inu’s appearance at a New Year’s celebration. “The measurements were taken by the boutique. The fabric was selected from samples. The construction took two weeks. My dog wore the kimono for forty minutes before indicating that she was finished with the kimono. The photographs from the forty minutes are extraordinary.”
Pet fashion industry researchers tracking Japan’s market through Statista’s consumer goods research have documented Japan’s pet fashion expenditure as among the highest per-pet globally, reflecting both the country’s general aesthetic investment in well-designed objects and the specific emotional investment in pets as family members whose appearances reflect on their owners.
South Korea’s Matching Outfit Phenomenon
South Korea contributed the matching owner-pet outfit trend: the purchase and wearing of coordinated or identical garments by owners and their pets simultaneously, producing photographs that are among the highest-shared pet content categories on Korean social media.
“We have twelve matching outfits,” said one Seoul respondent of herself and her Pomeranian. “Different occasions call for different matching outfits. My dog accepts the outfits. He does not celebrate them. He tolerates them with what I describe as grace and my friends describe as resignation. The photographs are excellent. We look very good together.”
China’s Festival Costume Culture
China contributed the seasonal festival pet costume: garments specifically designed for Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, and other significant celebrations, in which pets are dressed in culturally appropriate attire that owners consider festive and pets consider unasked for.
“The dog wore a red outfit for New Year,” said one Beijing respondent. “Red is lucky. My mother dressed the dog. The dog was dressed before I could explain that the dog had opinions about being dressed. The dog expressed the opinions. The opinions were expressed loudly. The photograph was taken before the expression escalated. The photograph was shared widely. My mother was very pleased.”
The Philippines’ Creative Budget
The Philippines contributed the most creatively resourceful pet costume culture: Filipino pet owners who produce costumes from household materials, repurposed children’s clothing, and handmade construction that rivals commercial product quality through ingenuity rather than expenditure.
“My dog’s costume for the neighbourhood competition cost fifty pesos,” said one Manila respondent. “I made it from fabric I had at home. It took three hours. The dog wore it for two hours. The dog placed second in the competition. First place cost considerably more. The dog did not know it placed second. I knew it. The distinction mattered to me more than it mattered to the dog.”
Animal welfare researchers at the RSPCA’s animal welfare research programme have published guidance on pet clothing and costumes, noting that garments that restrict movement, vision, or breathing cause animal distress, while well-fitted garments that are not distressing to the animal are safe to use, advice that most pet costume buyers consult and most pets’ expressions suggest has been applied with variable precision.
