When you go to some of the major pet accessories stores, you will notice that a lot of the designer dog clothes and pet accessories are rather expensive. For people who can not afford this type of luxury, but would like to dress their dogs in fashionable clothing, there are two main routes of action that can be taken. Firstly, there are smaller online companies who strive to give the best prices around by undercutting the major retailers, while still keeping a high standard of quality. These companies are fairly numerous these days and can be located by a simple search for "dog clothes and pet accessories," or something similar. Secondly, there is the option of making your own clothing. Here I am going to describe a few ideas for making your own clothing and compare that against buying from a major retailer.

If you have a particular pet in mind then you can start by measuring its chest, neck and body length. This last measurement is to be taken from the base of the neck to the base of the tail. Patterns are freely available on the internet, if you wish to make these clothes yourself at reduced cost. You can download a lot of these patterns and resize them to the requirements of your dog, then buy the materials to make these in your spare time. Another option is to find baby outfits, either new or second-hand that would suit your pet. Boot sales or eBay are the perfect place to pick these up cheaply and there some great designs that can suit either a child or a small dog.

The main disadvantage of making your own dog clothes is the amount of time that it takes and the materials used can be outweighed by the cost of an outfit bought from an online pet accessories store. Some of the beautiful outfits available sell for as little as £5. If you spend half a day making your outfit then you are probably better off buying one, unless it is something that you really enjoy.

There is a great variety of dog clothes currently available on the internet and I do personally think they look a lot nicer than the home-made ones. You can buy dog coats, hoodies, t-shirts and all manner of accessories from most of the smaller retailers and the prices are usually very satisfactory. This is now able to happen because there are several good quality Chinese distributors who are supplying the smaller companies with quality goods at a fraction of the price that you would have paid a few years ago.

So, in summary, if you have a lot of time on your hands and enjoy making your own clothes, or if you like looking for a bargain at a boot sale, then that is a great route to go down. However, if you are looking for a bargain and great quality dog clothes, then look out for your smaller shops on the internet.