My friend Romeo persuaded me to attend a cat show on Sunday, and it far exceeded my expectations in every way. The cats were disgusting, and the cat fanciers were totally weird.
If you’re anything like me, and I know you are, you like to explore subcultures. It’s fun being a cultural tourist as long as you don’t get too close to the natives.
I don’t have a camera but I used my cellphone to capture the intriguing hairdos of the cat enthusiasts.
This girl sat next to me as the guy in the top photo assessed some gigantic oversized cats, including two that belonged to her and resembled young grizzly bears.
This shelf-configuration was better in person. Her friend is clearly jealous.
This hairdo was so intricate and the two-tone thing was really eye-catching. This is a true cat lady. I like to think that she bought some of the cat-themed jewelry that dangled from every other merchandise booth.
Ta da! I saved the best for last. What the fuck! I was blown away by this lady. She was like a show within a show. Look at that hair! I got as close as I could, but I couldn’t tell for sure what was going on in that hairnet. She might have actually had a cat in there, or even Daphne Guinness! Let’s look at her one more time:
My look is clearly missing a crazy, tonged fringe!!
That first lady was super tall and looked like she belonged on the inside album cover of Houses of the Holy. Her cats won some prizes and she held them up, beaming beneath cascades of elf hair.
I’d like to think she is Daphne Guiness incognito. Cat shows a sub culture indeed.
Oh I’ve found you again! I found you the other day and peed myself laughing at everyone wearing EVERYTHING….and then I lost you.
That last hairdo is unbelievable! Cat people are indeed weird. I’m a dog gal. I’d happily turn all cats into jackets for the AW10 season 🙂
Ali x
that is killing it, fo’ sho’!
(the cat that is)
Not gonna lie, my mom had that 1st hairdo up until about 10 years ago. I’m pretty sure she got a perm AND used a curling iron to get it into shape.
lol. wowwwww… this is hilarious/crazy!
thanks for the nightmares, I would de-lice that cellphone of yours
I LOVE creeping in on subcultures. It’s so fun to see people in their element, surrounded by others like themselves. My hubby and I went to ComiCon years ago when people still made fun of it and it was pretty awesome.
Up next Taxidermy fair?? Eh? Ehhh?
HaHA! I have SEEN that crazy snood cat lady at another cat show a few months ago, and I, too, was gobsmacked by its utter weirditude. Your observations w/r/t the cat-owners are spot-on.
Hahahaha I almost went too, just because I wondered what the hell happened at a cat show.
I’m thinking that snoodgal’s skull is actually shaped that way and the wrapper is just a ruse to make it look like it’s hair, or a cat, like you said.
I’m a animal lover so that includes the felines, but I went to one cat show way back, and that was way more than enough to last me for the duration. The cat show folk tend to be a little loony, no doubt about it. I run screaming into the night when I see the cats in clothes – aarrgghh. I hadn’t put the cat and hair thing together, but it must grow (haha) out of a desire to have a cat-like object around one’s head.
They look like dreadlocs to me, my auntie has ankle length dreads that she sometimes ties up with a similar hairnet, hers is red gold and green netting.
I have been having my own cat experience, 4 week old semi abandoned kittens,(confused feral mother. Hey, I know how she feels!)
They have bright blue eyes and fluffy black fur.
I never knew I could get so soppy, talking to cat protection ladies about cimicat milk powder and syringes with teats.
To quote Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, NOT Peter & Jordan, a whole new world
I’m sending my husband to one of these shows, he’s totally obsessed with our crazy kitler cat and a cat show might just cure him. And yes, there is definitely a Gareth Pugh-wearing heiress in that snood.
Wow. I’m looking at that last lady, and really wondering. Good thing Braindance has a fairly sound theory.
My hair is past butt-length in the back, and rather thick, yet I’d never need such huge snood.
I think the final cat lady is on her way to channeling an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh look (80’s Dress Up Style) – as cats were thought to be sacred or had religious significance there, back in the day (ancient Egypt, not the 80’s)…anyway she could first be their divine ruler (Pharaoh was a living god, right?) – and then OURS.
Just think of the power! The POWER!!!
…(Haha, pussy power.)
The first thing that popped into my head after seeing this was: Best in Show! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeifMjqpsg0
I think that most dog and cat show people, just like most pageant moms, have some “special issues” and belong in a category of their own. Not to mention they’re pet snobs who breed and sometimes mutate their animals to create new breeds, value breed purity in a very freaky way etc. Rescue cats and dogs ftw!
My cat and I have taken umbrage.
In fact, the cat has taken it right outside and refuses to bring it back in the house.
I don’t have enough hair for a snood but I intend to collect all the bloody cat hair my cat leaves on my clothes and around the house and stuff it into a hairnet.
So there!
I love you, and I love Romeo for persuading you to attend the show. I went to a cat show in Phoenix about 20 -25 years ago. I think the woman in photo #2 was there.
Andra, I’m with you. I’m a cat (and dog, and animals in general) lady; I may be crazy, but we – my two rescued cats and I – are taking umbrage too. Dressing up cats is an abomination, dressing up dogs a lesser one – they out up with anything…
For amazing body shapes, try a model horse show.
am a dog person. hmmmm cat, not so much. had a very bad experience with my aunt’s cat when i was 5. he almost erased my face. So i don’t trust them.
those hair are soooo weird.
is it fun and lively there? i love dog shows, it’s like a circus.
I had a beautiful Persian cat with a lush red coat named Rufus, He could have ruled the word with his calm demeanor and his fun personality and intelligence. We played soccer with a tiny ball and then he was killed at age three by my at that time new husband’s Boston Terrorists. I remember going to pick him up when he was a kitten and the lady had a doorbell and floormat that were all Persian cats. And she looked liked the cats too.
RIP dear Rufus. I will never have another cat because they could never measure up to Ruffie. His ashes are in a wooden box on my desk. I will never forget that honorable cat. RIP Ruffie.
Tinlizzie – heavens. A bit dramatic dear.
I used to tell my previous cat that I would have her stuffed and mounted in the rampant post when she died but she lived to be 21 or so and had lost her looks by then (and I know just how she felt).
Just buried her in the garden and grew a bush over her.
The new one is a clone, I just adore Chocolate point Burmese cats.
I once showed one of my cats back when I was in my Siamese phase. Had to wash the cat the night before the show so I decided to be naked and hop into the shower recess with the cat.
Bad move. I believe I still have some of the scars but they probably don’t show so much with all the wrinkles.
The cat only came second so it hardly seemed worth the pain.
I also decided it was cruel to leave them sitting there all day in the cages.
After the judging I took my bat and ball (and the cat) and went home!
And that’s that.
Read “pose” for “post”.
I WAS THERE! It was amazing, no?
My pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nfsnoyman
whoa. I have very distinct memories of a cat show from a brownie scout field trip gone awry.
for some reason our troop leader thought that we should earn one of our volunteer badges by helping out at a cat show! twenty 8 year olds cleaning cat shit! and hauling the cages around!
I thought the creative cages were neat though. I bet Jane would’ve liked them.
She could make a collage with cat butts.
my mom like to say “don’t be such a cat butt hole” when she’s feeling feisty. I kinda like that phrase. but its not as effective as “stop being a cunt!”
I learned that here.
that last hairdo reminds me of mars attacks. come to think of it, Tim Burton probably does go to cat shows for inpiration.
Andra – I relate to your cat shower story; I have two very long, very deep scars from when I decided to bathe my Devon Rex, standing the tub with him. I had to go to the emergency room to get stitches. Never made that mistake again and now pay someone else to give the Rexes their annual baths.
That last woman, with the snood, is the Queen Alien, from “Alien”. She couldn’t fit her protruding back cranium within the human meat suit, forcing her to hide it in that hideous thing.
I don’t bathe my cats, not ever, unless it’s done at the vet. They have to clean themselves, or, as someone once said, cover themselves in cat’s spit.
Yes, that’s right, IT IS Queen Alien! They must have a thing about cats…
so awesome! I like to say: Let your Freak Flag fly. My mom had some weird hairdos after I was born to her late in life….and she used to wrap her hair in crepe paper and clippies to keep it fresh. If she was out of crepe paper, she used toilet paper from the roll.I’m guessing after me, she was a little tired of keeping it up, you know. And just made her french roll once a week and that was that.
what the fuck. I can’t believe this shit is real.
the hairnet looks like a giant wasps ass on her head.
I’ve always wanted to go to a cat show, but WOW, that is definitely some kinda subculture they have there. I never knew.
As a cat lady myself, I would kill to go to a cat show. But are they publicized?