The longer the better
An official love letter to Sausage Dogs
When my mom was a young girl, she got bitten by a sausage dog named Birgit. At this point of her life, she never thought that this breed would become a fashion icon in her daughter’s life.
I grew up in a small town in Germany. The closest I got to a sausage dog was through our neighbour, an old, very slow man with an even older, even slower dog. At that time, these dogs were boring to me, they had an “old people”-image, they were kind of…dull. Every time I saw those two, I asked myself “Who actually walks with whom?”. My younger self never understood why people would buy a dog like this. To me, the dog looked like a Wiener the size of a rat and with the face of a mouse. Not something I would classify as a proper dog. But through time, something changed. The breed became popular. The dogs became funny but dull, they became iconic but old. Today, you can see more sausage dogs on bags or sweaters than actual living ones on a lead.
Over Christmas, I visited my family in Germany, and I went on a day trip to Frankfurt with a friend of mine. My friend, a guy with good taste in style and even better taste in dogs, proudly told me about his first car. To those who do not know: Germans. Love. Their. Cars. It gets washed, it gets spoiled, and it never gets any trash on or in it. And especially to young men, a car is a status symbol. He got his car from his father who put an “Dachshound Club Germany” sticker on the trunk. And the guy kept it, claiming “It’s too iconic to remove it!”. Maybe some people think I am exaggerating here. Maybe I do. But let me put it this way: if a dog can convince a German man and his car, it can convince everybody.
And, man, it did! Today, the sausage dog is the muse of many designers. Judith Leiber designed a clutch bag that looks like a Dachshound. You can buy it for £4855. Need a bigger bag? Alternatively, you can purchase a Dachshound shoulder bag by Thom Browne. This bag which is available under the name “Mini Hector” or “Hector Junior” only costs £2200. Too expensive? At Fenwicks, you can buy Dachshound door stoppers for £100. Want it? Have it!
Of course, I am picky now. There is no need to shop designers or at expensive places. But it clearly shows one thing: This breed has made it to the top. It officially plays with “the big boys”.
I have everything now. I am an ultra in the sausage dog fan club. From bag clippers to cosmetic bags: I buy it. The sausage dog is fashionable. And that surprises me more than if Karl Lagerfeld had claimed sweatpants as the new must have for the summer.
When I think of my childhood in Germany, I am sure if I would have seen someone with a bag that looks like a Dachshound, I would have thought this person escaped from the local madhouse. But now, I am this person.
And you know what? I feel pretty stylish in it.
So, here is my advice for you: Give it a go. Drive around with your Dachshound club sticker on the trunk. Wear your Dachshound shoulder bag. Hold your door open with a Dachshound door stopper. This way you are always in style. But please, do not take it too far. Buying an actual Dachshound should have something to do with responsibility, not with style.
So, let’s look stylish in the streets and after our animal wellbeing.
