I Am Obsessed With This Sold-Out Balaclava…For Dogs

I never thought I’d be so obsessed with a piece of pet clothing until I saw a balaclava made for dogs. Also known as a bally or a ski mask, balaclavas for humans are typically worn by winter-sport athletes or anyone who resides in ice-cold-verging-on-Siberian climates. As a New Yorker who works in media, I don't fall into either of those buckets — but, I do own a small puppy and it is winter. So, the aforementioned dog balaclava I spotted on Instagram made the cold-weather accessory suddenly applicable. Thanks to an incredibly chic collaboration between KULE and Maxbone, I am now obsessed with the image of my pup’s big brown eyes peering back at me from behind a balaclava's warm embrace.

As soon as KULE X Maxbone's knit face masks debuted this past fall of 2020, they subsequently sold out and I was left completely balaclava-less. I spoke to a rep for KULE who informed me that, although I've already imagined in great detail the chilly strolls my pup and I would take whilst wearing the matching cream-and-red-striped cozy hoods, I have to wait until fall 2021 for the site to restock. In the meantime, the brand's human balaclavas will be restocked at the end of January (a restock I plan to shop). And, to further curb my infatuation, I also tracked down all the currently available dog balaclavas worth buying — along with another winter-style favorite: the dog turtleneck. At a time when face masks are everyday essentials, there’s never been a better reason to invest in this off-beat-accessory obsession for your dog, yourself, and all of us who want to see pictures of it.