Eight patterns, and not one of them is the standard red felt Santa hat. Red and green stripes, red and black plaid, red and white stripes, red plaid, red and green dots, red and green plaid, green and black plaid: the maker calls the look British style, and whatever you make of that, it is the difference between a photograph you send to the family and one you quietly delete afterwards.

Velvet is why it photographs as well as it does. It takes indoor light softly instead of flaring under a flash the way shiny polyester does, and it has enough weight in the pile to sit down onto a head rather than standing up like a traffic cone. The whole thing comes in at around 10g, so there is very little there for a cat to take exception to, and it is made in one free size across all eight patterns.

• Velvet
• Free size, one size across the range
• Eight patterns, including red, red and green stripes, red and black plaid, red and white stripes, red plaid, red and green dots, red and green plaid, green and black plaid
• Weighs 10g
• Listed by the maker as suitable for dogs and cats
• Supplied as one hat

On sizing: free size means it was cut for a middling head, and no measurement is published to tell you which one. On a large dog it will perch and slide; on a very small kitten it will drop over the eyes. However well it fits, a hat is for a few supervised minutes and a photograph, never left on an animal alone.

Who it's for: Owners of medium dogs and adult cats who want a Christmas photograph with a hat that looks handmade rather than plastic.