Why all this fascination around fur coats? Can it be reminiscence from our “savage? years? A way to show our hunting prizes without the mess of the actual hunt?
I always found myself on the other side of the barricade when natural fur involved: never understood why women (especially after a certain age) fall for those incredibly massive disgraceful, unpractical fur coats! What makes them proudly wear dead animals on their backs?
The Humane Society of the United States warned consumers that some of the winter coats labeled as “faux fur? or accessorized with “faux fur? may actually be made of real fur. A two-year investigation resulted in pulling out Burberry parkas from Saks Fifth Avenue because they were mislabeled with “faux fur collar?, Burlington Coat Factory were pulled out from Bloomingdale’s. For more accuracy – the mislabeled “faux fur? come from China where reports state that raccoon dog fur is mostly used for this kind of products.
Are you fascinated by fur coats? Or do you feel it’s rather “savage? and don’t want animal blood on your back?
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22 comments ↓
I don’t think that women start wearing fur coats after a certain age. A lot of young women, including myself, enjoy fur coats.
Coming to your question, Catherine Deneuve answered it perfectly. Women love real fur because it is voluptuous, sumptuous, very beautiful, very warm and very soft. I think that’s why millions of women from all ages are in love with real fur garments.
I’m a guy and i agree with you Esra. Real fur is gorgeous and i myself want to wear it
It is said opposition to fur declines with the temperature.
That aside, fur is, and always had been a natural, tactile, alluring and — yes — warm and sensuous material. Though women may traditionally don the apparel, it is attractive to men and children alike.
I can understand Esra’s point of view and agree with the fact that most women consider fur to be a very sensuous and sumptuous material.
I give in for Dan that men too are entitled to wear fur and enjoy it at least as much as women do.
But RonG, you left me all puzzled about children wearing fur…Do they really understand fur and the implications? Or it’s more about their parents’ pleasures?
kpriss-
To clarify, there is a natural innocent enjoyment of fur by children. You can see it when a child brushes against her aunt’s fur coat or holds a bunny.
However he wearing of a fur by a child is definitely influenced by a parent — for whatever reason. I agree.
Every one has the right to choose, this must be remembered. RonG, I know what you mean. If you see a child with it’s mother wearing a fur, they will naturally snggle in. I guess this s because they just like the softness and warmth. Childrem love textures, thats why many childrens toys are made with contrasting textures-hard, soft, rough, smooth etc.
As for men enjoying wearing fur, why is it normally seen as exclusively enjoyed by women? Men look good in the right fur, and are equally able to appreciate the style, warmth and comfort that it provides.
fur is a natural resource..it takes more oil to make a faux fur than it does to run a car engine.. so in this world today.. should we not be looking to use more natural substances.. like fur?
just a question worth asking..!
I as a male have to agree to most things said above. I also like the soft feel a fur has and like the warmth it gives during cold wheather. I really like to use everything mother nature delivers, i.e. I like garments out of rex rabbit where the meat is alredy used - i take the fur for my garments …
Real fur is a natural REPLACEABLE resource. Fake fur is an ecological disaster with an enourmous carbon footprint. There should be no shame in wearing fur. It is only a fashion choice; and IMHO an excellent fashion choice.
It is every person’s right to decide whether it is good or bad to wear fur or any other kind clothing. I am angered, NOT because people choose to wear fur. I am angered because some people think it’s okay to infringe on others’ right to decide!
If you don’t like fur then, FINE! Don’t wear it!
People who think they have the right to tell other people what to do should go live in Iran!
Why all this fascination around fur coats? This is asked as if fur as a fashion is something new. Excuse me, but men and women of *all* ages, *and* children have been wearing (and cuddling) fur for many, many centuries! I am really getting weary of hearing the same old talking points again and again and again espoused by so-called animal rights activists. Fur is not only practical, it is a usable, durable and replenishable natural resource that is by far superior to the faux furs not only as a fashion, but as an environmentally friendly product. I also resent the writer’s implication that if someone is “fascinated” (an interesting choice of a word) by fur, that must mean that he or she is, somehow, inherently evil. Kpriss, if you really don’t like fur, then don’t wear it. I, for one, could care less. Just please don’t be so judgemental against those of us who are more liberated in the way we choose to live our lives.
Your comments and premis of the so called article are specious. The comments are loaded to elicit the worst anti fur comments with false and missleading stamenents and so calles ‘facts’.
Those of us, male and female, who enjoy furs are generally not moved by any of the supposed reasons listed.
I think the responses clearly indicate very normal and civilized reasons for chosing to wear furs.
What we fur wearers do find “Uncivilised and Savage” is the premise that the anti fur individuals feel free to impinge on our rights to wear furs or anything else we please.
What I find reprehensible these days in this oil crisis are folks wearing Gortex and other petroleum based clothing. This kills more animals in the most cruel ways possible. Remember the Valdes oil spill?
I agree with all the previous comments and think that real fur is perfectly fine. There are such horrendous things going on in this world that i cannot see why people are so up in arms about animals being bred for their pelts. I have come to the conclusion it is because people either relate it to killing their childhood teddy-bear or because the wearing of fur is associated with the wealthy.
You say “I always found myself on the other side of the barricade when natural fur involved”.
I am wondering why you would say this. I would really like to know your reasons. If you would not wear fur, would you use a leather purse or leather shoes for instance? They are made of animal hides too. Or would you purchase something else instead made of non bio degradable oil? Nylon, Orlon, etc?
Sometimes I think that we are just not really provided with the true facts when we make these decisions. There are so many facts on this subject out there that are 20 years old and based on “here say”.
RonG (and RonG’s den thread friends) it is obvious that I don’t appreciate the violence leading to a natural fur coat. I stated so in my article and thought about it as a fashion-related issue. Especially because everyone is entitled to an opinion and expressing it should represent the perfect opportunity for a creative talk, I so did with mine.
When I asked my readers to express on which side their loyalty lies, I wasn’t anticipating talking about children(btw, children toys are made with several textures because they need to feel as many textures as possible in order to learn the difference between them, not because they “love” to touch things. As much as you’d like to justify yourself through this, children don’t love fur. They’re at the beginning of a long sensuous journey through life and everything is new and attractive to them. Touching and smelling fur is not a childhood good habit).
I don’t wear fur and I will not because it’s my choice according to my believes. Be free in your obsessions and try to be objectively coherent as others are entitled to their outfit freedom.
Kpriss, I’ve never understood this reidiculous comment “wearing dead animals on your back”. Do you ever talk about people wearing cotton clothing as “wearing grass on your back”? or maybe something made of silk as “wearing caterpillars on your back”? Or can I say I’ve never understood people wanting to go out wearing synthetic clothing, as “going out covered in crude oil”? Come on!! You know as well as anybody that “wearing dead animals” is just said for emotional effect, and has nothing to do with the cured pelt of an animal, and the skilled craftsmanship that goes into the making of a fur garment.
Oh! and I dont know what kids you know, but I’ve never known a kid who isnt instantly drawn to fur. Of course they love to touch things, but they invariably prefer to touch a furry toy in preference to other textures. set up a trial and see for yourself. Ant that love of “touch is also one of the reasons why most women love to wear fur as a fashion garment. That and the fact that it beats any other clothing hands down for warmth durability, and craftsmanship.
Syrus hits some points about the hot button words used over those who chose to wear fur that I pointed out as inflamitory.
Not only personally but professionally I’m deep into conservation and environmental issues. It’s not just oil. They are amongst a large group of planet killers. Cotton and corn have gone way off course as mono-crops and very heavy users of both pesticides which not only harm the environment but are most likely harming us directly. These impact the clothing and fashion choices in a big way.
Then there are the cattle lots and dairies with their major contribution of methane into the atmosphere. Not a small issue to ignore!! Think of all those cattle, chickens deaths when you go to the market! One cattle feed lot probably kills more than the entire Fur Farming industry world wide!!
This is all a very complex situation but with real sollutions and real choices that one can make without being emotionally fanatical. We can have an effect on how this plays out by our choices. Try watching the Green Planet on Cable.
The fur farmers have not only been among the most environmentally responsible but they most likely wieigh positively on the issue with their resopnsible choices. On the environmental criminals list they are definitely on the friendly side of the register.
Just think of the non-organic cotton you wear or of course any oil products (plastics, etc.) that you wear way befre the fur wearing issue. Fur IS environmentally superior to any of these products.
The reason they are picked on is convenience and fear. The fur industry is relatively small and easy targets for nay sayers while the cattle and oil industries will send the police after the protesters in the most prejudicial way. Not to mention their lawyers and the Feds.
I feel that my comments re; childrens toys have been taken ot of context. Children are fascinated by texture, not through the ‘love of fur’ as implied, but because they learn by feel and touch.
I am fully for everyones right to freedom, the right to choose, which ever way this goes.
I am not against people who are against others wearing furs or anything else, purely against people who think that they have the right to stop others having that right to choose.
America and other countries in the modern world (Australia for one) pride them selves on freedom and their citizens having the right to choose.
As Ron Howard (ex Oz PM) can be quoted, the biggest attraction about coming to Australia is having the right to choose.
If you don’t like it, you have the right to leave.
End of.
As a man I wear furs during the Fall, Winter and into the early Spring. Nothing beats the warmth of fur much less is there any other Winter type of clothing that is less harmful to the enviroment?? Once a coat is not wearable then you make a pillow or a blanket…….After that then once in alandfill it breaks down to an enviromentally safe substance versus something that remains in a landfill for a loooooooooong time. Also how many clothes can you buythat if they don’t fit in a year or wo can you get them made larger or smaller as needed??
One last word about sources.
Beware of Wolves in Sheeps cloting.
Also, most, if not all of the OTHER organizations that claim animal rights, put down more pets than your local and legitimate Humane Scociety under the guise that they are “better off dead”. Feel free to track the law suites and court cases over just this thing.
Many who wear furs have good and healthy pets they love and care for.
I think the fur issue is the final destination in our modern society’s attempt to alienate itself from nature. We live in artificial environments in urban settings, with no meaningful contact with the nature. Children grow up by assuming that the meat in their Big Macs and those in supermarket packages are produced in “meat factories.” It’s all neat and clean. They never get to see a cow or sheep butchered; they never get to see the messiness of it all. People spend millions of dollars just to kill of the flies and bugs inhabiting their homes, which are probably more hygienic than Victorian era hospitals. The zealotry of the PETA guys in their anti-fur campaign is a hopeless search for perfection. It’s as if the world peace depends on me denouncing my fur coat. It turns out, life is much complicated than that.
I wear fur because I love its soft and sensuous touch. I don’t agree with the anti-fur camp, because I know that what they are trying to achieve is an illusion-a mirage that will never materialize.
As a fine Artist specialising in horses and animals, and a conservation lobbyist, I have travelled extensively in Europe, and every time I came into contact with fur producing people I found the welfare on farms to be exceptional, and native people managing the wildernes well. In areas like Poland where nutira is managed for meat and fur and , they have done a far more ethically reponssible job of managing an invasive species rather than wiping it out as we did in the UK.
So I pledged myself one day to redress the balance against anti fur ignorance by developing my other interest, fashion. I am just a small designer and the collection I have made for a variety of Artistic Conceptual reasons though can be couture made to order. The tweed and furs used support the idea, if not the economic strength, to back traditional animal farmers and native hunters who protect habitat. Unlike those designers who hide the fact they use fur, I am proud of it and my links page will tell you why.
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