The historic Algonquin Hotel in New York City was the site of another very historic event on Thursday…a feline fashion show with actual cats instead of pouty, anorexic human models. The show was held in honor of Matilda, the house cat at the Algonquin, and all proceeds benefited the North Shore Animal League, an adoption shelter on Long Island. The kitty-models were provided by the Westchester Feline Club, and the high-tone fashions were created by Meow Wear.All you intellectual cats and humans know the Algonquin as the site of Dorothy Parker’s famous Round Table literary luncheons in the 1920s. I personally attended several myself when I was Robert Benchley in a previous life. The fashion show was held in the very dinning room where the Round Table luncheons occurred.
Matilda, shown in the photo above, is the ninth house cat at the Algonquin. The kitty tradition began in the 1930s with Hamlet, a bedraggled stray found by actor John Barrymore. And hey, Matilda… next time I’m in New York, I’ll stop by and we can claw up a chair in the Oak Room together.
