"It's A Little Tight, If I'm Being Honest"

Barley, a dog, wears a festive miniature holiday hat. The elastic cord is decidedly too tight, and Barley’s expression reflects this.

When Barley and I arrived at my folks’ place for the holidays, I was presented with a tiny hat. Barley would, I was assured, look adorable wearing it, and I agreed. The elastic was sized for a human head, of course, and as an experiment, I tried doubling up the elastic. It was immediately clear that this was not enough elastic, and as soon as the hat went on, Barley froze. We had it off her again as soon as we snapped this photo (no longer than a few seconds), and Barley shook her head in bewilderment, clearly confused by the fleeting hat ambush she had just experienced.