"I don't want to wear clothes without cats on them!" The result of my cat obsession in my 20s...

When you start living with a cat, your fashion sense can sometimes change—you might find yourself "checking if the material resists cat hair" or "giving up on buying black clothes."

In my mid-20s, my love for cats grew so intense that my fashion sense took a turn for the weird. Please laugh along as I share some embarrassing stories from my past that I can finally talk about now.

Driven by the "desire to fill every household item with cat motifs"

Although I had lived with cats at my parents' house since I was little, I didn't truly fall down the "cat rabbit hole" until my early 20s. It all started when Marron, a black cat, arrived at my parents' home.

As a child, I was actually not very good with cats. I was afraid of the cats at my parents' house because they would pounce on me just for walking by. (They probably didn't respect me.) I consider that a "cute point" now, but back then, I was at the mercy of their unpredictable behavior, screaming in my heart, "What am I supposed to do?! What did I ever do to you?!" (in the style of Tatsuya Fujiwara).

But after meeting Marron, my view of cats changed 180 degrees. Marron came to my parents' house as a kitten. At that time, I was in my early 20s and had just quit my first job after about six months because it was a hotbed of workplace harassment.

I became depressed, spending my days self-deprecatingly thinking, "I'm a failure at everything I do." The anxiety of being unemployed was also growing. Since I was born with a heart condition, it was rare for a company to hire me in the first place, which made the regret of having lost that job with my own two hands even harder to shake.

Marron was the one who comforted me. Rather than my human family members who would say things like, "I knew you couldn't do it" or "Work is hard for everyone, it's all about your mindset," Marron was more of a family to me, simply staying by my side and purring in silence.

Marron taught me how to interact with cats and that they aren't scary even when they pounce. As I spent my days like this, a desire sprouted in my heart: "I want everything I see in my daily life to have a cat motif!"

Losing my way after realizing "there aren't enough cats in my fashion"

I wanted cats to be present in everything I looked at during my day. With that thought, I changed all my daily necessities, including mugs, towels, dishes, and kitchen mats, to cat-themed versions.

After working at a game center—a job I managed to land—I would check the capsule toy machines in the store. If there was a cat-themed item, I would always spin the machine. It’s a good memory that my coworkers would laugh, "Are you playing again today!?"

While living like this, what bothered me next was fashion. If cats were already so integrated into my daily life, why was I wearing such plain clothes...?! I should be choosing cat-themed outfits! I wanted to scold myself.

There aren't enough cats in my fashion... Once I realized that, I started incorporating cats into my look, beginning with easy pieces like earrings and rings. I also bought relaxed cat T-shirts and moved forward with my "cat-themed loungewear plan."

Once I was prepared for an "all-cat" fashion life at home, I started surfing the net to find cat-themed clothes I could wear when going out. But this was harder than I expected... At that time, it was before the cat boom. There were almost no cat-themed clothes for adults that could be worn casually.

Still, I couldn't give up, so I made a major decision. I used my short stature as an advantage and bought cat-themed children's clothing. I forced myself to enjoy cat fashion.

Realizing I looked like a suspicious person while out...

After acquiring girl's cat-themed tops, I struggled immensely with choosing pants. I couldn't fit into children's sizes for bottoms, and there were almost no adult pants with cat designs on them.

After much deliberation, I set a personal rule: "Leopard print counts as cat." Thus, a girl in her 20s, whose default style was a girl's cat top paired with leopard-print pants, was born.

I realized this fashion was a disaster while I was out one day. I thought, "Someone dressed really weirdly is coming toward me..." and realized it was my own reflection in the mirror.

Reflected in the mirror was a "middle-aged woman's face" wearing cute cat-designed clothes. Oh... Is this me...? Doesn't this look crazy from an objective standpoint...? I finally realized, and that day, I quietly sealed away my favorite cat fashion.

For several years after that, I couldn't buy new clothes because I couldn't shake the mysterious obsession of "I don't want to wear clothes without cats drawn on them!" However, in my late 20s, that inner turmoil gradually subsided, and I became able to think, "Isn't it fine as long as I have a love for cats in my heart?" Maybe this is what they call the composure of an adult.

However, my habit of incorporating cats into my socks and loungewear hasn't been cured. When I see cute cat-themed clothes while surfing the web, my radical love for cats sometimes reignites, and I think, "After all, my mood is lifted more when there's a cat on my clothes!"

Now that I'm in my 30s, I’m conscious of wearing adult, appropriate fashion, but when I get older and reach the age where I can finally say, "I'm free to wear whatever I want!", I might just enjoy that cringey, beloved "full-blown cat fashion" again.

If I'm still writing articles by that time, please laugh and say, "That person hasn't changed a bit, no matter how old they get."

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