{"id":7482,"date":"2010-10-10T00:02:52","date_gmt":"2010-10-10T04:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=7482"},"modified":"2011-08-31T20:17:04","modified_gmt":"2011-09-01T00:17:04","slug":"bear-y-strange-fashion-memory-and-related-musings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/bear-y-strange-fashion-memory-and-related-musings\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear-y Strange Fashion Memory and Related Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

My post about panda dresses<\/a> reminded me of a fashion fad from my childhood: clip-on koalas. For a year or so, it was de rigueur <\/em>to walk around with a small, stuffed koala toy clipped to one’s shirt or jacket. They came in gray and tan. Eventually there was a clip-on panda too. I was obsessed! I’m not sure if the toys were originally designed for wearing. They make more sense as plant decorations …<\/p>\n

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Click to buy a 12-pack for $24.<\/p><\/div>\n

… and are a super-kawaii<\/a> way to deal with bad smells.<\/p>\n

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12 clip-on koalas with plastic suction are only $7.56 on this site.<\/p><\/div>\n

When I went to the San Diego Zoo with gorgeous blogger ENC of Observationmode<\/a> in 2008, we observed real-life pandas and koalas, none of which looked very wearable. In fact, the real-life koala clipped to a real-life tree looked like he’d cut a bitch who disturbed his 23-hour-long nap.<\/p>\n

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ENC's koala photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Maybe it’s my koala history that makes me yearn for one of panda-dress-designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac’s teddy-bear coats<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Castelbajac's teddy-bear coat was shown at the Victoria & Albert Museum.<\/p><\/div>\n

Of course, koalas aren’t actually bears. They’re bear-like marsupials<\/a>. And the cutest bear-like marsupial of all time — OF ALL TIME!<\/a> — is the one who got in a bucket of water to escape an Australian heat wave<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Click to see all of the koala-in-bucket pictures at Cute Overload.<\/p><\/div>\n

That koala was so cute that Diane Sawyer reported on it.<\/p>\n

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But I don’t think the koala was saying, “Hey, you come here often?” as Diane suggests. He was definitely saying, “How YOU doin<\/a>‘?”<\/p>\n

I think Henry the dog looks a little like a koala.<\/p>\n

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Henry. Photo by Jennine Jacob.<\/p><\/div>\n

My nickname for him is “Henry Bear” because “Henry Marsupial” just doesn’t sound right.<\/p>\n

Got any bear- or koala-related memories? Share them in the comments.<\/p>\n

UPDATED TO ADD: I initially didn’t include Sam the koala<\/a> in this post because Sam, who was rescued from a wildfire by a firefighter, later had to be euthanized due to koala chlamydia. I thought it would be too sad. But I re-watched the video of her drinking water from the firefighter’s bottle and it is cute to the nth degree. Here it is.<\/p>\n

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Sam is now on display at the Melbourne Museum<\/a>. The Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter<\/a>, which helped care for Sam, is raising money for a wildlife hospital. You can email the shelter at southernash@live.com.au to inquire about sponsoring a koala.<\/p>\n

UPDATED AGAIN TO ADD: I found a Moschino teddy-bear dress on 1stdibs.com for $2,800. Thank goodness it’s not my size so I don’t have to pine for it.<\/p>\n

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Click to buy.<\/p><\/div> <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My post about panda dresses reminded me of a fashion fad from my childhood: clip-on koalas. For a year or so, it was de rigueur to walk around with a small, stuffed koala toy clipped to one’s shirt or jacket. They came in gray and tan. Eventually there was a clip-on panda too. I was…<\/p>\n

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