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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Can I wear fur?

137 replies

CosmopolitanCocktail · 31/12/2025 17:16

I have two fur coats previously owned by my great grandmother.
I have kept them in my wardrobe for the last 20 years.
One is a short mink coat so now bang on trend.
I am a total animal lover but these animals died 60 years ago and the pelts are beautiful. To just discard them seems wasteful so truly torn.
So would I AIBU to wear it?

OP posts:
ShesTheAlbatross · 31/12/2025 17:41

I don’t understand people who are bothered by the ethics of wearing a coat where the animals died 60 years ago, but probably wear things made by children in god knows what sort of conditions right now.

PumpkinPieAlibi · 31/12/2025 17:39

All this fuss over an unethically made garment that looks mangy anyway.

Jamesblonde2 · 31/12/2025 17:39

Real fur looks amazing. Women wearing it in Russia. Just wear them.

LighthouseLED · 31/12/2025 17:38

I don’t see anything wrong with wearing antique fur (I don’t like how it feels, so I personally wouldn’t). It’s completely different from buying a new fur coat as that would be supporting the current fur trade.

ThejoyofNC · 31/12/2025 17:38

It's beautiful. I'd definitely wear it.

NetherWallop · 31/12/2025 17:38

CosmopolitanCocktail · 31/12/2025 17:30

This is coat. To bin it seems awful

Edited

Faced with a similar dilemma I sent mine to Ukraine: keeping warm there is a matter of life and death, whereas I'm sure you have other coats you can wear!

Chinsupmeloves · 31/12/2025 17:38

I wouldn't buy fur but if the items are already there then you're not responsible for having sourced it. Xx

ComewithmeIntotheseaofLove · 31/12/2025 17:37

CosmopolitanCocktail · 31/12/2025 17:30

This is coat. To bin it seems awful

Edited

No don’t bin it

wear it - you could certainly say it’s fake as it the style of fake ones

Wordsmithery · 31/12/2025 17:36

AnnaQuayInTheUk · 31/12/2025 17:19

I personally think there is a lot of hypocrisy over fur. Most people have leather shoes, most women own at least one leather handbag. Some people have leather jackets. You're either ok with wearing the skins of dead animals or you're not. I wear leather shoes and boots

Be prepared for criticism though.

Well, no. Leather is a by product of the meat industry plus the synthetic alternatives are not as good. Mink are bred purely for their pelt plus there are plenty of good synthetic alternatives.
There is a difference.

ComewithmeIntotheseaofLove · 31/12/2025 17:35

CosmopolitanCocktail · 31/12/2025 17:27

Doesn’t bring them back to life though does it?

Show quote history

No but it seems more ethical

VoltaireMittyDream · 31/12/2025 17:35

Quite apart from any ethical considerations - which are really down to your own views and how OK you are with other people judging you - I think old fur coats look really mangy, and always smell a bit fusty. I have a friend who wears vintage furs and she often looks like a cross between a caveman and a mad old lady.

Overtheatlantic · 31/12/2025 17:32

Just don’t wear it out of respect for the millions of animals who have painfully and pointlessly died for the sake of fashion.

ArseSkinForAFriend · 31/12/2025 17:31

CosmopolitanCocktail · 31/12/2025 17:30

This is coat. To bin it seems awful

Edited

Who's him?

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 31/12/2025 17:31

I wore MIL’s 1960s suede coat today. It has a mink collar.
Once I would have thought there was no way on earth I would wear fur particularly something like mink that might have been badly treated while alive, but I don’t see that anything is going to be achieved by my removing the collar or even binning the whole coat.
I am not such a trendsetter that people will be inspired to kill mink to emulate my look….

BeforeSigourneyWeaverTheyWoveTheirOwnSigourneys · 31/12/2025 17:31

I couldn't wear them, it would play on my mind the whole time.

I wouldn't look twice at someone else wearing it though and would assume it was fake.

sillysmiles · 31/12/2025 17:31

For those saying they'd say its fake, why would you say its fake rather than vintage?

CortieTat · 31/12/2025 17:31

It’s much more environmentally friendly to wear vintage fur than to buy a new fake one. Plastic fabrics, including fleece, terry and fake fur shed a lot of microplastics into the environment.

AgnesMcDoo · 31/12/2025 17:30

It wouldn’t bother me but I’d be worried about how whack jobs would react.

Original poster
CosmopolitanCocktail · 31/12/2025 17:30

This is coat. To bin it seems awful

Can I wear fur?
OP posts:
ArseSkinForAFriend · 31/12/2025 17:30

CosmopolitanCocktail · 31/12/2025 17:27

Doesn’t bring them back to life though does it?

Show quote history

I'm not quite sure that's the result the PP was hoping for?

Aworldofmyown · 31/12/2025 17:29

If you like it, wear it. Anyone's asks say it's fake.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 31/12/2025 17:28

I would wear then but say they are fake. Perfect for the upcoming cold snap!

spicycats · 31/12/2025 17:28

CosmopolitanCocktail · 31/12/2025 17:27

Doesn’t bring them back to life though does it?

Show quote history

I’m not sure I understand your point?

Saz12 · 31/12/2025 17:28

Fur farms these pelts came from were likely pretty horrendous.

However, it does seem crazy that you wouldn't just wear them now - the damage is done long since, the fashion industry now is horrific in other ways, its a bit wasteful otherwise. It's not like you're influencing others to seek out mink coats or creating a market for them.

Original poster
CosmopolitanCocktail · 31/12/2025 17:27

spicycats · 31/12/2025 17:25

I donated my grandmother’s furs to a wildlife charity, they use them to provide warmth and comfort for orphaned baby animals

Doesn’t bring them back to life though does it?

OP posts: