animals

Are These Dog Leggings Supposed to Be Sexy?

Well? Photo: Walkee Paws

On Monday, Popsugar wrote about a new product known as Walkee Paws, which are dog leggings “designed to protect your dog’s paws from dirt and germs for everyday walks,” concluding, “We’re Not Sure How to Feel About Them AT ALL.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about them either, but I kept wondering — and I truly, profoundly apologize for putting this question out into the universe — are these dog leggings … supposed to be sexy?

I was pretty sure the answer was no. And yet, because my brain has been so thoroughly pickled by a childhood full of Victoria’s Secret catalogues and an adulthood full of Instagram butt models and whatever the hell this is, whenever I see an item of clothing that covers up all the wrong bits (legs; not butt) and made up almost exclusively of uncomfortable and impractical-looking straps, I think to myself, “Ah, yes. I understand from these visual cues that this is ‘Sexy.’”

When a colleague shared Popsugar’s story in our office Slack, I had to know if anyone else was as fundamentally broken as I am, and asked the same question you see up there in the headline (Are These Dog Leggings Supposed to Be Sexy?). One colleague confessed that they had been wondering the same thing, and another agreed they are “weirdly sexy-seeming” and that they reminded them of chaps, a decidedly sexy item of clothing.

Then, I watched the Walkee Paws ad and decided that no, they were probably not intended to be sexy, and that, even though my dog would most certainly hate me for trying to strap her into them, they actually seemed quite practical.

To confirm that Walkee Paws were NOT meant to be sexy, despite their sexy signaling, I reached out to Walkee Paws to ask whether their product was meant to “look like dog lingerie, or be ‘sexy.’” Lisa Baronoff, the founder of Walkee Paws, replied that they were not, but added that “the first prototype I made with a pair of black pantyhose looked too ‘S & M ’-like and that’s why I avoided all-black and did fun prints.”

So there you have it — these dog leggings are not meant to sexy but also, it’s sort of understandable if you think they are.

Happy holidays.

Are These Dog Leggings Supposed to Be Sexy?