The Vintage Fur Thread

[Viola]

For most folks today, however, anything made of fur is superfluous. Wear vintage, or don't wear any.

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Could not the argument be made that rabbit is a much more natural, biodegradable, environmentally sustainable insulative material than, say, Gore-Tex?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Could well be, but then fashion steps in and says, "North Face" rabbit parkas WON'T do!

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[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Fur is very warm. From prehistory up to the end of the Golden Era, it was the warmest thing you could put on your back. Like everyone else here, I don't blame my ancestors for having worn fur. For most folks today, however, anything made of fur is superfluous. Wear vintage, or don't wear any.

.

Well, to play the Devil's advocate here, texture is an important aspect to clothing and fake fur doesn't even come close to feeling like real fur. [huh]

 

[MoxieGrl]

I do wonder how a lady would today wear a vintage fur in public, this could attract a lot of attention without some fashion knowledge they might not realize that it was vintage fur and had not been made a few months ago.
If any one of you do wear vintage fur I would like to know how you do go on with it and the attitude of others seeing you wearing it.

Well, keep in mind not everywhere is it so taboo. I live in an area where the majority of people are either themselves farmers, or have family or close friends that are. Alot of people hunt for sport, and everyones eaten something that was home-killed. I would image that most rural states are still like this. Needless to say, noones ever said anything to me about wearing fur. Well, not negative anyway. I've had inquiries of where I found some furs that are no longer available. Now, the ridicule I endeared through my teenage years when I was vegitarian was endless. *sigh*
-Stormi

 

[Paul]

Great to here fur can be worn somewhere

Nice to here that furs can still be worn somewhere at least , it's just the opposite here in the UK for real fur
But I do also have a soft spot for fur my only coat in my collection has a fur collar but as I will not be wearing it in public it not a problem for me also.
Fur and vintage go so well together!

 

[Caledonia]

Could not the argument be made that rabbit is a much more natural, biodegradable, environmentally sustainable insulative material than, say, Gore-Tex?

That's true, although the processes for cleaning and preparing the skin can have negative enviromental waste impacts. Also, rabbits are not native to the UK, and so using rabbits would not have a significant adverse impact on native biodiversity per se. However, if you went for catching wild rabbits it's going to have an impact on the food resource of native species such as foxes and raptors. Not sure where the rabbit stands as a native species in the UK. Will google it and inform myself. Rabbits are farmed for their fur but in most cases it's not exactly humane. Generally, fur is a luxury commodity the continued production of which is not necessary, from the point of view of neither the animals' welfare, nor the environment, nor our own needs, or raising the awareness of the public that we need to respect the world we live in far more than we're doing.

 

[scotrace]

Fur coats, fur felt. All animals no?

 

[CourtneyJordan]

I have got to say that fur is, and always has been, my vice, of sorts. 7 years ago, a classmate brought over a bag of vintage furs- stoles and hats (mainly 40s and 50s) from her chic grandmother to use for a school movie we had to make. She never picked the bag up after we called her many times, and then left the state. The furs became mine, and to this day, I cherish them. Along the way, I have collected various other fur stoles- some from my own mother and grandmother, and some bought on ebay- including the 40s ones with the face and feet included! (which scare many of my friends quite a bit)

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I do wear fur felt, leather, and silk. I am not a vegetarian, preferring to eat sushi and rare steak.

However, I will not wear fur coats. I think the fur coat looks better on the animal than on us. Wearing fur out of necessity, as the Inuit did, is one thing, wearing it for "glamour" is another.

I couldn't stand those little fox stoles people wore in the 40's. I was afraid of dead things and dead people when I was a kid and, when I saw someone wearing a fox stole, I would freak out and run away. I still think they look weird, like wearing a corpse.

karol

 

[hotrod_elf]

"As far as fur, my Granny has some, and some minks that had all their parts. Id make puppets out of them when I was a kid and run them around the house. Yes, I was a geek "

I did this a few days ago at an antique shop with my husband.

My mom use to sell furs (back in my punk days). I would go in there and ask her how could she sell dead animals. She looked at me and said it pays the bills and I'm not wearing or buying them. She actually didn't sell a lot of them. They made most of the money on cleaning and storage. I saw some the most beautiful vintage fur coat and stoles. These old ladies would be bringing them in, you know they got them when they were young southern bells.

I think vintage fur is ok. Like some have said it's been dead for 40-50 years. Wear the one out there not make new ones.

 

[goldwyn girl]

I don't mind vintage fur, infact the other day I picked up a Mink Stole for 99c at the thrift store. I would not on the other hand buy a new fur even if I was freezing in the South Pole. We know better now but a vintage fur like any other vintage item is a piece of history and should be preserved.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Scott brought up an interesting point -- what *is* the difference between wearing fur and wearing fur felt? Or wearing leather shoes, a leather jacket, or carrying a leather bag? Can the latter be justified because the hide is often a byproduct left over after the animal has been processed for other purposes? But what about exotic leathers? No one raises snakes or alligators for meat, and yet reptile-skin fashion items are still out there and nobody will run up to you and call you a murderer for wearing them.

It's an interesting dichotomy. I'm not a fur-wearer, but I have no problem at all wearing calfskin or kidskin shoes -- I can't stand plastic shoes at all -- and the bag I carry most often is made of pigskin. Does that make me a hypocrite? Or is this, like so many other issues, one where it's less a question of black and white than of many different shades of grey?

 

[dhermann1]

I'm not sure if I'm ambivalent

I just made a post on another thread on the same subject, I think it's "1930's Animal Slaughter", or something like that.
I just bought my girlfriend a gorgeous vintage (ca 1940) fox cape, half length, for Christmas (it's in the closet at the moment) and I'm getting second thoughts about it. I just found a horrifying web site showing the killing of raccoon dogs in China for fur. I won't go into it, but it's despicable.
I feel like vintage fur is more or less OK, but then once in a while I get a pang of conscience. I think using leather is all right because most (not all!) cattle are slaughtered in a relatively humane way, and every part is used. I have a problem with pigs, because they're so smart. Churchill loved to repeat the old adage that dogs look up to humans, cats look down on humans, but pigs look at humans as equals. Plus their living conditions are pretty grim as well. So I don't eat pork or use pig products.
Beavers are drowned in the standard traps used for them.
It's a tough issue. I think psychologically, when people kill animals regularly, for a living, they inure themselves to it as a self protection. If you let yourself think about the moral implications, you'd start losing sleep. The result is complete callousness, which can sometimes lead to wanton cruelty. A paradox.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

(Full disclosure: I have a vintage fur trimmed coat.)

Just because it's vintage doesn't excuse the use of fur for two reasons:
1) It was still killed and skinned, WHEN it was killed and skinned doesn't matter;
2) Wearing fur, vintage or new, promotes the wearing of fur.

I am trying to bring myself to get rid of my fur trimmed coat but it's HARD!

 

[gluegungeisha]

I'm also a vegetarian. I can't even afford new fur, leather or silk first of all, but I wouldn't wear it if I could. I don't, however, believe in wasting material just to keep some sort of image. I wear vintage leather. I don't really like the feeling of fur, but I just inherited a lambskin stole from my grandmother that I'll be using for a shoot at the end of the month.

I don't believe that the fact that a piece is vintage somehow nullifies the act of killing. However, I do not believe that refusing to make use of a family heirloom just because it is fur will help anything.

 

[Lady Day]

Scott brought up an interesting point -- what *is* the difference between wearing fur and wearing fur felt? Or wearing leather shoes, a leather jacket, or carrying a leather bag? Can the latter be justified because the hide is often a byproduct left over after the animal has been processed for other purposes? But what about exotic leathers? No one raises snakes or alligators for meat, and yet reptile-skin fashion items are still out there and nobody will run up to you and call you a murderer for wearing them.

Yeah I thought about that too. I am a veggie , and I dont wear leather shoes (and I have yet in 10 years of doing so, found a good man made alternative with vintage style), or leather bags or fur of any kind. But I do wear wool, so am I a hypocrite, geeze I hope not.

My problen is not wearing those animal things, or even eating them, its the source as to how they get to most of us that I take issue with. And without getting all political, I say that is what keeps me and my concious skipping that yellow brick road.

Crap, now I gotta think about the man made materials and their impact on the environment and lack of ability to biodegrade in a reasonable span.
Great. Now I need a drink.



LD

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

Yeah I thought about that too. I am a veggie , and I dont wear leather shoes (and I have yet in 10 years of doing so, found a good man made alternative with vintage style), or leather bags or fur of any kind. But I do wear wool, so am I a hypocrite, geeze I hope not.

My problen is not wearing those animal things, or even eating them, its the source as to how they get to most of us that I take issue with. And without getting all political, I say that is what keeps me and my concious skipping that yellow brick road.

Crap, now I gotta think about the man made materials and their impact on the environment and lack of ability to biodegrade in a reasonable span.
Great. Now I need a drink.



LD

I think it just goes to show that no matter the position, you just can't win! I love my vintage fur things, and wear them when I can. I have never had anyone come up to me and tell me what a bad person I am or threaten to throw paint at me. I would not buy new fur for any reason, but honestly cannot afford to buy reptile or anything of that type brand new anyway! Vintage, yes, if it is cheap enough. I treasure my real leopard jacket, and my fox, and my marmont. Even if I hadn't bought them, they still would exist, and at least if they are in my possession, they are cherished and cared for and not just dumped somewhere. Maybe someday I will have a teddy bear made from my rabbit coat for my grandchildren! Isn't this just another form of recycling, when you think about it?
Actually, I have always thought that antique dealers like myself should be considered major recyclers! We manage to save alot of stuff that would be clogging up landfills and dumps!

 

[Miss Sis]

I especially like persian (or curly) lamb trims on anything! Coats, muffs, hats, boots it all looks good!

Just to answer where this comes from, Persian Lamb is from a lamb slaughtered just after it is born or the mother is slaughtered and then they skin the lamb for it's very soft fur. Not nice, and although I do wear old fur (I'm in the old fur, we might as well use it, new fur, no thanks camp) for some reason I can't bring myself to wear astrikhan.

 

[dandelion-vint]

Hi,
For myself, I don't wear any fur or even leather jackets. I don't purchase new leather shoes or purses, but I will use vintage purses and shoes.

I do sell vintage fur on my website. I have a note about my opinion of fur on my website because I did receive a few complaints over the years from people who thought that I shouldn't carry fur. Basically, my idea is that if you are going to wear fur, it should be vintage fur, because it's already out there and it should be put to use, rather than go to waste. And if people can, they might try to buy vintage rather than buy new fur, so that they won't promote the 'production' of more new fur.
At first I wasn't going to carry fur on my website. And every now and then I think that I will stop carrying it. But I see great pieces when I'm buying my stock and I have a hard time passing them up. So I buy them to pass on to those you do like vintage furs.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I actually just put up a vintage fur trimmed ribbon suit for sale on ebay, check classifieds. Slowly getting rid of it....