Book Review: Pet Fashion Almanac 2015 (handy lists for new people in the pet fashion world)

Pet Fashion Almanac 2015 by Laurren Darr and Ellen Zucker (Left Paw Press, 2014, 132 pages, $2.85) Volumes for the years 2014 and 2016 (where ‘almanac’ is spelled ‘almanack’) are also available for $9.99 each.

Wow! Niche Marketing for a Niche Market. . .

Laurren Darr is the founder of the International Association of Pet Fashion Professionals* and co-author Ellen Zucker is a certified astrological professional**. Wow!

Six pages of praise*** from pet professionals who read the book. Wow!

Just Getting in to the Business?

I want to thank the author for going to the trouble of finding and publishing such voluminous information – from the dates of pet holidays by the week and month to trade shows, conferences, events and even fashion weeks, along with media, publications and organizations. Included are five short articles (about a page in length), one for nearly each chapter with an extensive astrology chapter (forty-seven of the 129 pages [over a third of the book] is devoted to astrology, the final chapter of seven). Most entries in the lists have dates and websites listed, too.

Creative Lists

I loved the original, variable, and creative use of punctuation (especially the slash but also commas and hyphens), vocabulary and undefined abbreviations as well as slang and insider-terms – not hard to figure out but a fun exercise nonetheless. Most of the major part of the book consists of indispensable dates, websites, and addresses – very helpful indeed to the pet fashionista who wants to learn about pet fashions, cats included. A great place to start.

Like the Idiot and Dummy books, the Almanac uses icons but, thankfully, not as many as the others. Instead, the almanac uses more detailed icons: a cat face (“ME-WOW”), a dog face (“Dog Ear This Page”), a bird (“Squawk About It”), a light bulb with a tail inside (that looks like a snake)(“A-HA”) and I do dearly love the ‘end of chapter’ icons – a cat pawprint, a dog pawprint and a bird footprint.

Suggestions for Future Almanacs

Perhaps a proofreader and an editor might help get the points across better in articles – and to catch items like ‘widdle down’ and change to ‘whittle down.’ I would also use specific examples in each, as well, to make the articles really memorable.

*Do pets really care so much about what they wear that they need an organization devoted to pet fashion professionals? I never knew! I will have to get right on this – my lab and golden retriever don’t wear a thing!

**CAP – Certified Astrological Professional. I never knew! I do appreciate the voluminous advice but I remain a skeptical scientist with an advanced degree.

***You have a great chance of getting your pre-publication quote in the next almanac if you purchase this volume and send the authors or publisher your comment. Hmmmm, I wonder if I will see my name in print in next year’s almanac or almanack?