Caturday Catwalk Fashion in NYC
Whenever I’m near the historic Algonquin Hotel in midtown Manhattan, I stop and say hello to Matilda, the resident cat. She’s gracious and friendly when she wants to be but she’s no lover of paparazzi. She reminds me of witty and sometimes acid-tongued Dorothy Parker who held court the Agonquin’s legendary literary roundtable in the ’20s and birthplace of the New Yorker magazine.
Every August, Matilda celebrates her birthday with a fundraiser/fashion show, this year to benefit Bideawee On Thursday I arrived early with mixed feelings. I’m not a fan of cats wearing costumes or made to perform for the cameras. I know some cats do enjoy it but most don’t. Things got off to a good start seeing the mobile adoption van from Bideawee and a chat with one of their passionate volunteers. Once inside the hotel, I was told the fashion cats were tucked away on the second floor and I breathed easier. By-laws prevented the cats from performing in a fashion show in the lobby as in previous years. In a Grumpy Cat moment I said, Good! I didn’t even mind that Matilda was MIA. I silently cheered: Good for her. She’s not in the mood to party. I respect that. And it turns out we all had a purrfectly wonderful time thanks to the host, pet expert Nikki Moustaki and help from cat writer Sandy Robbins, PR whiz Dana Humphrey, Algonquin executive assistant and Matilda’s caretaker Alice de Almeida. Add yummy wine and nibbles, loads of fab raffle prizes and a crowd of cat lovers, a good time is guaranteed.
The party took place in the area off the lobby close to the original roundtable location. The lobby of the The Algonguin is a cozy spot to have a drink or cup of tea and yes, read a book while conjuring literary ghosts. The accommodating staff is warm and lovely.
Ada Nieves designed cat costumes in honor of literary characters for the “Cats in Fashion,” charity event. I got to meet all the cat models before the crowd arrived and some cats were in a cranky mood. A number of photographers snapped away and I’ve yet to meet a cat who likes the glare of cameras flashing.
Mom, I’m not ready for my close-up.
An adorable little Sphinx named Daisy wearing a Christmasy costume with LED lights was not amused. I tried doing Reiki on her but a volley of press cameras flashed and nerves frayed. If you’re thinking of getting a cute outfit for your cat for Christmas, think again. Daisy nipped at her mom who said, “She never does that.”
Credit: Alissa Ambrose/CBS News
Click here to see the rest of the kitty models. Whether you believe in kitty fashion or not, compassion is always in fashion.
13 Comments
meowmeowmans
What a wonderful event! We wish we could have gone, but are thankful for your terrific and detailed reportage. I meant to tell you I saw you on the CBS News site — SOOOOO cool! 🙂
Nerissa's Life
Hmmm… cats in hats. Real cats in real hats. Interesting… Peepers! You do NOT need to see this.
Purrs,
Nissy
Kathryn
oh my, it has been decades since i was at the algonquin. love parker, and it would have been great to have been all that then.
love matilda, grumpy, all the kitties.
Hazel Marie
Pretty cats and cute costumes. You can really tell the poor kitties are scared. Maybe next year they could have big poster boards of the costumed kitties and have them shown.
All for a good cause, but not at the expense of the models.
It’s too bad more of the adoptable cats present weren’t adopted
mohned
thnek you
Brian
They sure look mighty fancy, but not overly happy! I do love the hats though!!!
Abby
Most cats do not seem to enjoy clothing or being dressed. I say photoshop! Now I know this was an event and they couldn’t do that, but you can see the cats are not comfortable. It was for a good cause but I am sure the cats were all glad to get the hoopla behind them. It was all done tastefully and we enjoyed reading about the event, the Algonquin is such a great hotel.
Skeeter and Izzy
Cats Off to the models who so bravely stepped out for such a wonderful cause!!!!!
We do not wear anything but our own beautiful fur coats! There is no piece of “clothing” that could top that!
We are so glad that you got to attend the event. We were excited when we finally got time to catch up on all the posts this week and found out that there were adoptions resulting from the van being on site. Happy World Cat Day!!! We know it isn’t too late to say that because to us it is always World Cat Day!!!!!
Layla we are all so proud to have you representing all of us that are not able to attend such events. I think that everyone would agree that we see you as an extension of ourselves because we all are passionate about all things concerning cats and there well being whether feral or pampered house divas. Thank you!
Luvs Skeeter and Izzy and the Feral Gang >^..^<
easy rider
Wow the best from the NY-CATwalk. But I like cats and dogs best in her own fur – that’s always beautiful.
Sparkle
My human is so envious! She was on the totally wrong coast for this event, and she swears that someday she will be in New York to help Matilda celebrate her birthday, and do something to benefit kitties in need.
Ms. Phoebe
The same can be said for my human Sparkle- she is so green she matches my nibbling grass! Her sister lives in NYC and didn’t attend due to ‘other plans’. My aunt said after telling my human she wouldn’t be able to attend, she could feel the kick in her bum from my steaming and incredulous human all the way from the west coast!
Raine
I hadn’t heard of the event, those poor ‘models’ do not look thrilled. I’m glad its a charity event and not just for human’s amusement. I don’t dress my cats on a regular basis, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had a bunch of ‘cute’ costumes I bought-needless to say I don’t have any pictures, my guys refused to stay still while they were wearing a Wonder Woman costume. This sounds like a well planned and caring event, thank you for all of the pictures and clip.