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Dara Foster?s Top 3 Style Trends for Fall 2010

The following are doggie style trends courtesy of Dara Foster, a world renowned Pet Style Expert best known for her humorous,”taste-making” pet style blog PupStyle.com and a regular pet style contributor on NBC’s TODAY show.

1. Colorful prints
During last week’s visit to the Martha Stewart Living offices — one thing is for certain — big colorful prints are HUGE this summer and are making their way into the pet fashion marketplace this Fall. Be on the lookout for more big bold prints coming to a dog clothier near you! One example is this tutu harness dress from Etsy seller LiLYorkieFruFru (LOL).


Photo: TokyoFashion.com

2. Creative dog grooming
Until recently, dog grooming has been creatively limited to “by the book” breed specific hair styles leaving the fashion thirsty crowd yearning for more. Thanks to the more adventurous pet owners in Asia embracing pet style there has been a dog style revolution in grooming slowly making it’s way to the US. While some of the style choices might be a bit extreme, “creative pet grooming” has opened up a whole new arena of creative, hair expression involving both the owner and pup! The overall shape of pet haircuts have changed into a much more flattering style — moving away from the strict breed standard to a more aesthetically appealing style.


Photo via DogTime

All natural hair dye and coloring has matured beyond just a blue mohawk and grown into full-on grooming artistry. With new school groomers applying more artistry to their color work — a big trend is “animal print” coat coloring. Dogs are colored to look like pandas, cheetahs or tigers.


Photo: Pink Pucci Dog Grooming

Some groomers are taking both trends and running with them by shaping the dog’s hair and coloring it to heighten their cuteness and overall aesthetic charm.

3. Human accessories for dogs (hats, wigs-hair extensions, sunglasses, cuff links, neck ties)
The Dandy-fication of men’s fashion seems to have made it’s mark with more and more stylish dudes rocking “statement” accessories rather than whole outfits. This can be seen in the pet-ccessories market with a crush of designers offering small items that are affordable but high on style!

The folks from Doggles are even offering more contemporary styles like this summer’s Aviator sunglasses trend as well as making the glasses more lightweight and offer mirror lenses as an option (Oh so KEWL!).

Hats are another human trend that pets have picked up and run with. Page-boy caps and fedora’s are making their way onto fashionable dog’s heads and work really well as a summer-to-fall fashion statement.

Neckties are not brand new to the pet scene, but are expanding and being offered by more than just wedding designers. Not only do you have formalwear to choose from, but you can prep-up your pooch with a pastel preppy prints or go for an edgy punk-rock feeling tie. Above is the Pet Head Camo Cap and Tie and below, formalwear and not-so-formalwear from Designer Duds for Dogs.

Thanks, Dara and Jon!

Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk, is a Jersey girl living in SoCal. She dreams about funky, artistic jewelry + having enough free time to enjoy some of her favorite things—running, reading, making music, and drawing.