Morning:
6°c
It used to be that our peculiarly British devotion to Fido, Felix and Flopsy precluded us from doing fur. “Wear an ickle animal? Never!” we'd cry, a lump rising in our throat at the very thought of it. Not any more. Whether you blame Kate Moss or not (and feel free to — after all, she seems to take the blame for most of society's ills), it seems that more Londoners than ever are turning away from faux in favour of the real thing.
Businesses might be disrupted, pavements grit-free and trains struggling to cope in the snow, but on the streets of London the girls with their furs are at peace with the cold. Unlike the Italians, who are happy to pay a premium for the latest brand new pelt by Prada, we like ours old — or, as we prefer to refer to it, “second-hand”, “antique” or “remodelled”. Our consciences still pricked, perhaps, by fuzzy childhood memories of Fido, we feel less of a bitch wearing long-dead animals than recently culled ones.
“We have seen a huge increase in sales of vintage fur this winter compared with the same time last year,” says Angela Logan of Modern Age, a vintage store in Camden. “The average customer is in her early twenties and usually buys rabbit fur.” A half-length coat sells for £50-£60, while a longer one is typically £80.
“There is definitely less stigma about second-hand fur — once it's dead, it's dead,” says Edwina Foster, 23, who found her rabbit fur jacket in a charity shop for £15. Caroline McNamara, 20, agrees. “I bought mine from a market stall in Cambridge. It's a mink that was recut by this brilliant woman called Dixie. It cost £350, but Dixie was really sweet and let me pay for it in monthly instalments. If people are rude to me because I'm wearing a fur coat, I just say I'm wearing an antique. Nobody has been rude so far but Dixie told me she'd had a pot of paint thrown over her stall because she sells furs. It seems strange, given that the furs are old and the animals long dead.”
No prizes for guessing that Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) disagrees. “Whether they were killed yesterday or 50 years ago, animals are not ours to wear,” says Peta's Sam Glover. “Vintage fur sends the same, unacceptable message as a new fur. If people with old, unwanted furs want to clean out their closets and their consciences, the best thing they can do is donate their coats to us. The coats will be used in anti-fur demonstrations and donated to the homeless — the only ones with an excuse to wear fur.”
Reader views (8)
Fur may be considered politically incorrect in London but up here in Canada people don't mind as much especially when it get down to -30 or -40 C. I have a vintage fur trimmed suede coat with heavy quilted lining, wear longjohns and a blanket around my head and neck and I can feel pretty roasty. I wouldn't trade my furry coat for any of those crappy plastic and fluff filled coats I used to have which were neither waterproof not warm.
- Heather, Ottawa, Canada, 17/05/2009 21:10
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Can anyone tell me why so many self-righteous folk outright condemn the wearing of fur, yet happily possess leather coats, belts, shoes, handbags, settees, car seats, etc.?
Do they not realise that leather is animal skin? Or do they only care about animals that are warm and cuddly? Talk about double standards and hypocrisy!
- A Mark, B'ham, 09/02/2009 11:31
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Sharon of London
Mind your own business
- MJ, East Anglia, 07/02/2009 14:58
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I am fed up with these pc fashion fascists,who have nothing
better to do than dictate to other people what they can and can't wear.Let them take their arrogant holier than thou
message around the world to other countries where people wear
fur without silly fashionista comment.(are Eskimos,Russions,
Africans and many more peoples to be labelled monsters by these smug madams?)
It is a pity these same little dictators can't show a bit of
sympathy towards human beings suffering right under their
noses, like the two million pensioners living in poverty in
this country,who not only struggle to pay to keep warm,but
live, many of them,in isolation and physical pain daily.
I don't hear much campaigning on their behalf,but plenty of
sniggering jokes about bus passes and zimmerframes.
Of course,it's not 'Trendy' to demand decent treatment for the old and infirm in a country where the state pension is the lowest in europe.
So carry on with your petty concerns,til it happens to you,
girls.
- Jack, brighton, sussex, 06/02/2009 23:01
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My fourth hand rabbit fur coat has been the only piece of clothing I own that's kept me warm over the past week of snow.. I eat meat - including rabbit, am fully informed of the pro and anti fur arguements and for reasons of practicality as much as vanity am confident in my choice to wear vintage fur this winter.
- Beth, London, 06/02/2009 15:44
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These people who feel justified in their wearing fur because the animal is dead are more stupid than I could have ever imagined. Led by the growing band of fur wearing hypocritical celebrities who one minute are staring out of billboards decrying the fur trade for Peta.... and the next minute they're teetering out sporting their best mink! We just don't seem to care anymore and I challenge these ignorant and vain women to see how their fur coats antique or otherwise come into being!
- Sharon, London, 06/02/2009 13:00
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So being a long time dead makes it OK?
- Sarah Whilton, London, England, 06/02/2009 00:24
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I cannot understand Peta's logic. So it is not alright for normal people to wear fur, but the homeless are the only ones with an excuse to wear them!
I think Peta are misguided, the furs should be burned in public to show that furs are meant to be worn by the animals only.
- V Tan, London, 05/02/2009 15:20
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