Wired antennae, googly eyes, no dignity.
A costume lives or dies on whether it reads from the other side of a room. The padded shell and the segmented tail give this one a genuine silhouette, and the antennae stand up instead of flopping, which is rarer than it should be.
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Size: XS, back 26cm
Why you'll love it
The padding is in the shell and the tail, which is what makes the silhouette read as a lobster from across a room. The underside is flat, so the animal is carrying a shaped shell rather than being wrapped in stuffing.
They are wire cored, so they stay where you put them instead of flopping. Bend them back and it reads as a cartoon; bend them up and it reads as an actual lobster. It is also the first thing to check after any encounter with another dog.
Length, chest and neck are published in centimetres for every size, with a rough dog weight alongside. Measure along the back from collar to tail base and use the length column, because the weight column is a sanity check, not the answer.
Good fit if
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The shell and the tail are filled rather than flat, which is what makes the outline read as a lobster instead of as red fabric. Nothing printed achieves that. The underside stays flat so the animal is carrying a shaped shell on its back rather than being wrapped in wadding, and the legs come through openings at the sides.
The cost of all that filling is insulation. A dog in a heated front room with the door going and people coming in will overheat in this faster than you expect, and dogs are poor at telling you until they are already panting hard. Treat it as outdoor wear or as a costume for the length of the photographs. If the tongue widens and the panting turns shallow and fast, take it off. That is the point to act, not the point to watch.
They are wire cored, so they hold whatever shape you bend into them. Curled back gives you a cartoon; straight up gives you something closer to an actual crustacean. They are also sitting at precisely nose height for every other dog you meet, so they are the first part to be chewed and the part that determines whether this survives one season or three.
Straighten them with your fingers rather than pulling them taut. Wire fatigues where it is worked repeatedly in one spot, and a wire that finally breaks inside a fabric sleeve leaves a sharp end somewhere you cannot see. If one stops holding its shape, that is the end of the costume rather than a repair job.
Run a tape along the spine from the base of the collar to the base of the tail. That figure against the length column is the answer. The weight ranges in the table are a sanity check, and a rough one, because two twelve kilogram dogs can be shaped entirely differently, and a dachshund and a French bulldog at the same weight need different sizes here.
Chest is the second figure to check, measured behind the front legs at the widest point. Where back length says one size and chest says the next one up, take the larger: a costume that is slightly long looks fine and a costume that is tight across the ribs will not be worn twice.
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The details
| Size | Back | Chest | Neck | Rough weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XS | 26cm | 32cm | 28cm | 3 to 4kg |
| S | 31cm | 38cm | 32cm | 4 to 6kg |
| M | 36cm | 42cm | 34cm | 6 to 8kg |
| L | 42cm | 48cm | 40cm | 8 to 12kg |
| XL | 47cm | 54cm | 44cm | 12 to 15kg |
Back length is the deciding measurement. Weight is a cross check only, because build varies far more than the scales suggest.
Sponge clean and air dry. Padding holds water for a long time and a wet filling in a sealed shell is how a costume starts to smell, which no amount of later washing reverses. The antennae are wire and will not survive a machine drum in any case.
Loved by real pet parents
It is very funny and the padded shell reads as a lobster from right across the room, which is what you want. The wired antennae do hold whatever shape you bend them into, but after any encounter with another dog they need bending back, so I check them every ten minutes. The reaction from people makes up for the fiddling.
The instruction is to measure from the collar to the base of the tail and use the length column rather than going by weight, and that was exactly right. Ours came out at 35cm so the medium at 36cm fitted with nothing pulling anywhere. The chest at 42cm had a little room, which he needed.
I was worried a padded costume would mean she could not settle, but the padding is all in the shell and the tail and the underside is flat. She lay on her side in it for most of the evening with the tail sticking out behind her. Everyone at the party wanted a photograph of it.
Our three and a half kilo chihuahua is right at the bottom of the range and the extra small at 26cm along the back and 28cm at the neck fits her properly rather than swamping her. At a hundred and twenty grams she trots about in it normally. The claws are the best part of the whole thing.
The shape and the padding are genuinely good and he looked ridiculous in the best possible way. The problem is that spot cleaning is the only option, because the padding soaks up water and there is wire in the antennae, and after one muddy garden visit there is a mark on the tail I cannot shift. Keep it indoors and it will last.
A small thing I did not expect to enjoy. Bending the antennae forward makes it look like a cartoon and bending them up makes it look like an actual lobster. We settled on up. The wire holds well and has not worked its way through the felt after a lot of handling.
He is twelve kilos and 41cm along the back, which put him at the top of the large and the bottom of the extra large. I went with the large based on the back measurement as advised and it was correct. The neck at 40cm sits comfortably and the shell does not slide round when he moves.
The costume is well padded and the segmented tail looks great from behind. One of the stuffed felt eyes started to come away at a corner after the second wear and I have sewn it back on, which took two minutes. Aside from that it has held up and the claws still sit out properly.
Not what it is designed for, but the extra small at 32cm chest and 28cm neck fitted our large cat, and because the underside is flat he could still walk normally. He tolerated it for about fifteen minutes, which is fifteen minutes more than most things get. The antennae got a lot of attention.
Good questions
No, and the reason is the supplier's own paperwork. There are two size tables and they disagree: XXL is listed at 64cm chest and 54cm neck, then the next size up, 3XL, drops to 56cm and 48cm. Both measurements shrink as the garment grows, so we cannot tell you what the big sizes actually are. We would rather sell five sizes we can stand behind.
They are wire cored and will take being bent repeatedly, but they are also exactly at nose height for a second dog. Treat them as the part that decides how long the costume lasts, and straighten them by hand rather than pulling them taut.
Yes, it is padded, and that is the point of the shape. Indoors in a heated room an animal will get hot in it faster than you expect. It is an evening costume and a photograph, not something to leave on through a party.
The XS and S are cat sized on paper, but a padded shell across the back is a bigger ask for a cat than for a dog. Put it on, let go, and watch. A cat that walks off is fine; a cat that drops and reverses is telling you clearly, and reversing is what most of them do with anything padded.
They are stuffed felt sewn on rather than hard plastic, so they are not a choking shape in the way a moulded bead would be. They are still stitched to fabric, so check them before each wearing and stop using the costume if a seam opens.
Last reviewed 13 September 2026