When finished with the development of our famous BASTARDS coat, we realised that even though we managed to create something unique, and much needed, we only covered, literally, a fraction of dogs. A lot of them don’t have the need to be dressed in warm clothing most of the year as Bruce does. And since long hair and thick furred dogs do not need the additional warmth, they do need to be or like to be, protected from the rain. There are also many dogs who love the rainy weather and do not mind their fur getting wet at all, but it’s a nightmare for you to dry them afterwards or chase them down before they jump on the couch soaking wet. And there is also the smell of wet dog, which is on nobody’s list of favourite smells. For all those troubles the best solution is to find a raincoat that will protect them from a drizzle or downpour. That is when we started thinking about making one of our own. We knew we wanted it to resemble our classical coat but be more versatile, easy to wear and super durable.
As always it started with an idea of how to make it efficient for as many dogs as possible. We knew that dogs who aren’t used to wearing clothing will not be able to wear anything that is dressed over the heads, takes more than 2 seconds to secure on the body or anything that is too close fitting. So the only logical solution was to make it wrap around the pup as if wearing a kimono, but all of the BASTARDS are ninjas of course. The front part is made to snap together with magnets, as well as velcro on the upper part. This enables you to make it as tight or as loose as possible, depending on the rain. Their cute little ears are protected by a hood, which can be worn covering the ears without restricting their vision or tucked behind, only covering their neck.
Starting from the classic coat pattern only we made it longer. From the database of the measurements of dogs we acquired we created two fits, slim and fat fit, depending on the shape of the dogs’ bodies. Slim fit is appropriate for long and slim chest shapes and deep chest shapes, while fat fit goes better with barrel chest, making the front flap bigger to accommodate more space between the front legs. From there we added a sizing system, ranging from 27cm in back length to 65cm, making 6 different sizes in two fits. They are, like all of our garments, also available made-to-measure.
The fabric we chose is this stunning graphite black polyester that is water-proof, with a wax-like texture, that looks best, in our opinion, wrinkled. It’s extremely thin, but unbelievably durable, having withstood many of Bruce’s acrobatic trial runs. It can be wiped with a damp towel, not if, but when it gets dirty from the rain soaked mud. Because it will before you ever realise it!
Ever since designing the raincoat we knew we wanted to have it in the classic oilskin yellow. This sailor’s coat is synonymous with waterproof garments and staying dry no matter the weather. They were made to tackle the weather of the ferocious sea, so we think our variant on it might make peeing in rain a little easier. The hunt for the fabric was an adventure, to say the least. We knew we loved the touch and finish of the fabric we were using for the black BASTARDS raincoat, but finding it in yellow proved difficult, even more so finding it in the right shade. But, alas, the stars aligned and after seeing a sample scrap we thought might work out, but wouldn’t bet all our money on it, it proved to be the shade we dreamed of. The right mix of the classic oilies and traffic sign yellow. It can compress very tightly in a pouch which comes with the raincoat, effortless for carrying around, and ready for any situation. It’s in contrasting colour to the raincoat and comes with a convenient carabiner, to hook it to your bag, jacket or leash.
If you’ve come this far, it’s only fair to tell you about the other components that make it special. You’ve heard all about the magnets enclosing system in the front, the velcro and the hood, but we aren’t done yet. Through the back and up the hood, there is a water-proof zipper with two keys. This enables you to adjust the hole for the ring as far up as you need it for the collar or low on the back for the harness, everywhere else staying completely sealed. We also have our G-hook, which balances the coat and keeps it secure on their bodies while they run unbothered.
Everything to keep your best friend looking like it’s dressed in the latest tech-wear fashion, with the raincoat to keep them dry no matter the downpour. And make peeing in rain almost bearable.
